Government-backed loans scheme has hit £1 billion value of lending, with greater than half the funding going to small companies run by ladies and ethnic minorities.

The British Business Bank’s (BBB) Start Up Loans programme stated it has lent greater than £9,500 on common to round 105,000 companies in over a decade since its launch.

The scheme, which has a 6% yearly rate of interest fastened to its loans, will get its funding from the Government’s Department for Business and Trade, and due to this fact is backed by UK taxpayers.

The BBB stated the programme targets underrepresented teams who're excluded from mainstream finance to assist them begin companies.

To hit £1 billion value of loans after 11 and a half years is a monumental achievement, not only for our enterprise however for entrepreneurs up and down the nation

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Around £371 million value of loans, almost 40%, has gone to companies based by ladies.

And about 20% has been to lent to folks from black, Asian and different ethnic minority backgrounds, excluding white minorities, amounting to £201 million.

The scheme is considered one of many UK’s most accessible lenders, with these proportions effectively above the extent of companies which might be began by ladies and ethnic minorities.

Just 4% of UK’s small companies in 2021 have been majority-led by folks from an ethnic minority group, and round a fifth of latest companies had feminine founders, in keeping with the unbiased Treasury-commissioned Rose Review.

The Start Up Loans scheme, which has supported firms included nut butter model Pip and Nut, and sportswear model Castore, has additionally seen about 70% of funding go to small companies outdoors London and the South East.

Richard Bearman, managing director for Start Up Loans, stated: “To hit £1 billion worth of loans after 11 and a half years is a monumental achievement, not just for our business but for entrepreneurs up and down the country.

“The UK has entrepreneurs in every corner and our aim is to do even more going forward to help those that want to set up a business.”

The British Business Bank administered the Government’s Covid mortgage schemes to companies through the pandemic. It got here underneath scrutiny for the lack of an estimated £1.1 billion to fraud and error.