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South West businesses benefit from £11m of loans in the past year including Proper Cornish Milk

Press release 22 July 2024

The Start Up Loans programme, part of the British Business Bank, today announced that it has delivered more than £11 million of loans to businesses in the South West in the past financial year (2023-2024).

The scheme has a 12-year legacy of delivering funding to businesses who may otherwise find it difficult to secure loans from traditional lenders. The programme also offers mentoring to recipients in their first year. Since its inception in 2012, the programme has supported over 9,000 businesses through £90 million in loans in the South West.

In the past financial year alone (2023-2024), over £11 million has been lent to 874 businesses via the Bank’s appointed Business Support Partners, which is primarily SWIG Finance in the South West. Spread across the region, the diverse range of businesses includes an animal therapist, mobile cocktail bar, baker, green builder, photographer, sewing café and ceramics studio.

We're delighted that the Start Up Loans programme continues to have such a hugely positive impact on entrepreneurs across the South West, helping hundreds of small businesses in the past year. Hitting £11 million is a huge milestone and highlights the success of our efforts to boost access to finance across the region. - Richard Bearman Manging Director, Small Business Lending, British Business Bank

Cornwall business benefitting from financing

One of the businesses to benefit is Proper Cornish Milk, a micro-dairy based in Cornwall. Husband-and-wife Matt and Tessie Horton applied for £27k in loans via Business Support Partner Business Enterprise Fund to begin their business. They used the money to build a processing room and buy equipment including bottling machines and fridges. The duo also used the money to buy their herd of six cows – Daisy, Poppy, Karen, Odette, Petal and Dixy

The money from the British Business Bank was really important for helping with our start up costs but also with solidifying our business plan. - Matt Horton Co-owner, Proper Cornish Milk

As a business they farm their cows as ethically as possible, with their welfare and happiness a top priority. The business now delivers fresh, unpasteurised milk straight to the doorstep of over one hundred families. For Matt and Tessie, the goal is to continue to keep the business community focused and local.

For both of us, the business offers us flexibility to spend time with our three children, all of whom are under six years old. We want a different way of life, and don’t want to be tied down by the demands of a traditional job. That said, we do want to continue to improve the business and our aim is to get to net zero. We are looking into getting an electric vehicle and installing solar panels on the farm to charge it. - Matt and Tessie Horton Co-owners, Proper Cornish Milk

The Start Up Loans programme helps people start or grow their business and is part of the government-owned British Business Bank’s remit to make finance markets work better for smaller businesses. They can borrow up to £25,000 at a fixed interest rate of 6% per annum and repay the loan over one to five years. The programme also provides 12 months of free business mentoring.

Further Information

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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 105,000 loans, providing more than £1bn 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. 40% of loan recipients were women and 20% were from ethnic minority groups (not including white minorities).

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