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British Business Bank’s Start Up Loans Programme Unveils New Post Loan Support Partner

Press release 24 May 2023

Newable and its subcontractor, UMi chosen to offer enhanced mentoring and support to start-up businesses

Start Up Loans, part of the British Business Bank, has today announced a new partnership with Newable, alongside subcontractor UMi, to provide enhanced mentoring and support to recipients of Start Up Loans. The organisations will work together to provide post-loan support, to help businesses that have been provided finance under the programme.

Mentoring has a positive effect on loan recipients. According to the Start Up Loans Year 3 Evaluation, more than half (51%) of applicants took up the offer of mentoring support if offered. Of those, nearly three quarters (74%) reported net positive effects on long-term job prospects and 80% reported net positive effects on confidence in running and managing a business.

Newable and UMi will provide up to 12 months of free business support, including providing access to an experienced business mentor. Business owners will be eligible to receive four hours of mentoring and personalised support following an introductory call. There will also be 24/7 online support and resources including UMi Sat Nav and webinars with industry experts spanning topics such as marketing and wellbeing to financial management and legal compliance.

Newable and UMi were selected following a competitive tendering process and will provide an improved, more consistent customer journey to Start Up Loans recipients across the UK. The appointment of Newable and UMi follows on from the recent appointment of new national and regional Business Support Partners (BSPs) to help unlock the potential of small businesses across the UK.

We’re delighted to be working with Newable and UMi to support business owners benefiting from a Start Up Loan. Mentoring and the support given after receiving a loan has always been an important part of the Start Up Loans programme and the new partnership develops this further, providing mentoring and new resources for the UK’s aspiring entrepreneurs.

We know the additional help is something that is valued by business owners and is not something traditional lenders can so easily provide. This wraparound support is something that makes Start Up Loans a stand-out provider in the market, and by helping loan recipients succeed we actually lower risk and help create an environment for businesses to grow and employ people in communities across the country.

Richard Bearman Managing Director, Start Up Loans

Newable exists to help other business to thrive. Mentoring is one of the core pillars of our Newable Advice offering – we work with thousands of mentors across the UK every year to create successful mentorships with ambitious small business leaders and are pleased to bring this extensive national experience with our team of business advisers and our partners UMi to support this dynamic new cohort of entrepreneurs setting out on their business journey.

We believe the combination of a Start Up Loan, impactful mentoring provided by an experienced mentor and access to quality content and resources is a winning formula to give these new businesses the best chances of succeeding and making a positive contribution to their local community and the UK economy as a whole, and are proud to be able to support such an ambitious mission.

Chris Manson CEO of Newable

UMi are absolutely delighted to be working with Newable and the British Business Bank to provide this much needed support to start-ups.

Starting a business is really exciting but can also feel quite daunting and confusing, so having that impartial, approachable and encouraging mentor alongside access to the very best information and resources 24/7 is really important to enable these businesses to do more and go further.

Nicki Clark OBE Chief Executive of UMi

Notes to Editors

About Start Up Loans

The Start Up Loans programme provides personal loans for business purposes of up to £25,000 at a 6% fixed interest rate per annum and offers free dedicated mentoring and support to each business.

The primary aim of the Start Up Loans programme is to ensure that viable start-ups and early-stage businesses have access to the finance and support they need in order to thrive. A network of Business Support Partner organisations supports applicants in all regions and industries throughout the UK. The Start Up Loans programme is not designed to generate a commercial profit. Capital payments together with the interest are recycled to help meet borrowers increasing demands for finance.

Free guides on a range of subjects related to starting a business and recent media press releases are available on the Start Up Loans website.

The funding for the Start Up Loans programme is provided by the Department for Business and Trade (DBT). A development bank wholly government-owned by DBT, the British Business Bank plc is not authorised or regulated by the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) or the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). The British Business Bank and its subsidiary entities are not banking institutions and do not operate as such.

The British Business Bank makes finance markets for smaller businesses work better, helping the sector to prosper, to grow and to build economic activity.

Key Statistics

  • Since its inception in 2012, the Start Up Loans scheme has delivered over 100,000 loans, providing more than £960m of funding.
  • In the financial year 2022/23, the scheme provided 9,549 loans with a total value of approximately £120m.
  • The economic benefits of the Start Up Loans programme are almost six (5.7) times its economic costs.
  • At Spending Review 2021, the Chancellor announced resources to provide 33,000 Start Up Loans over next three years.

Aside from the return-on-investment numbers these statistics are gross estimates and based on Start Up Loans CRM along with externally commissioned research undertaken by SQW Ltd, with support from BMG Research.

Since 2012, 31%of loans went to people formerly unemployed or economically inactive. Some 40% of loan recipients were women and 21% were from ethnic minority groups (not including white minorities).

About Newable

Established in 1982, Newable has been helping ambitious SMEs start, scale, and sustain their business for over four decades. Supporting over 20,000 SMEs each year, Newable offers an unrivalled portfolio of products and services across Money, Advice and Workspace.

Within Money, our team offers a 5-star, UK wide brokering service helping SMEs access the right finance. Newable also offers Export Finance for businesses looking to expand overseas. Within Advice, Newable has over 60 experienced business advisers, who offer bespoke support to accelerate business growth. Within Workspace, Newable has a network of 60 workspaces from Aberdeen to Brighton, offering SMEs a home to grow their business from.

For more information visit newable.co.uk.

About UMi

Since 2007, UMi has worked with more than 500,000 businesses across the UK, helped leverage over £650m of private sector investment, created or safeguarded more than 40,000 jobs and facilitated contract wins of over £100m.

UMi helps business go further through their own services but also working with partners in the public and private sector.  Partners like governments, charities, corporates, trade bodies, universities and many others.

As an employee-owned mid-sized business UMi has a unique blend of rigour and robustness with entrepreneurial flair and creativity.  And not only that they are amongst some of the world’s leading organisations promoting and practising responsible business ethics and standards.

For more information visit weareumi.co.uk.

About UMi Sat Nav

UMi Sat Nav is a unique platform and mobile application that helps businesses, wherever they are on their journey, get to their destination quicker and in better shape with the best information, expertise and finance.

For more information visit weareumi.co.uk/satnav.

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