social impact report & annual statement

It’s great up North

The North of England is the top region for entrepreneurs, receiving £150m in Start Up Loans.

Recent figures published by The British Business Bank’s Start Up Loans programme reveal more loans have been issued to aspiring business owners in the North of England than in London.

Since its launch in 2012, the Government-backed programme has delivered 27% of its loans to start-ups in the North. 18,612 loans totalling £150m have been delivered to new businesses in the North while 15,841 loans totalling £128 million have been delivered to those in London.

With respect to BEF’s homeland, 5,950 Start Up Loans totalling £50,691,256 have been delivered to new businesses in Yorkshire and The Humber.

As an official delivery partner of the Start Up Loans programme, BEF has delivered loans that total £8.95m in the last three years alone. In that time, BEF has supported start-up businesses that are as diverse as the North itself. These include Agency for Good, a multi award-winning social purpose marketing consultancy; SeaGrown, a seaweed farming and processing company based in Scarborough; and the award-winning WeTennis, a community and performance-based platform for amateur tennis players.

“The challenges of dealing with regional imbalances is real, but it is encouraging to see concrete evidence that those imbalances are being tackled head on. At BEF we see this first-hand and are always thrilled when clients take their ideas and make them realties,” said Steve Waud, CEO at BEF. “The work of Start Up Loans, and the fact that they have been so prolific in the North, proves that the demand for starting up businesses and the drive from the entrepreneurs seeking the funds for those businesses is not diminished.”

Want to make your business dream a reality? Learn more about how a Start Up Loan can help you start, grow and flourish.

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