New StartUp Loan Scheme to Get British Business Going

A new scheme is due to be launched today (May 28) aimed at getting more businesses off the ground.

The £82.5 million StartUp Loan scheme will be offered to 18 to 24-year-olds and is designed to unleash a ‘new wave’ of enterprise to support much-needed economic growth. Dragons’ Den star James Caan will chair a new body to oversee the scheme.

StartUp Loans will offer loans of about £2,500 with interest repaid at the level of the Retail Prices Index plus 3%. The scheme is aimed at budding entrepreneurs aged between 18 and 24 and according to Caan will offer “guidance, access to expertise and finance”.

Mr Caan said:

“The StartUp Loans initiative provides guidance, access to expertise and finance. These are the three vital ingredients for starting your own business. Armed with all of these, young people are already on the way to shaping their own future.”

Loans handed out by the scheme will be administered by organisations and charities, like the Prince’s Trust, which already helps young people with business ideas.