The British Business Bank, a government-owned bank helping UK businesses access financial support, has revealed that its Start Up Loans programme saw a nine per cent rise in loan volumes in 2024, compared to the previous calendar year.
This British Business Bank Start Up programme provides finance and support to businesses across the UK that have been trading for 36 months or less (or 60 months for second loans). In 2024, the Start Up Loans programme provided 10,432 loans to business owners.
With business loan volumes on the up, the British Business Bank believes that entrepreneurship in the UK is also rising. The 2024 calendar split into quarters also saw demand for these loans remain consistent in each quarter:
- January to March: 2,673 loans
- April to June: 2,621 loans
- July to September: 2,627 loans
- October to December: 2,511 loans
While the uptake in business loans points to a promising trend, other separate findings suggest this demand is not in line with general expectations in the UK.
The British Chambers of Commerce found business confidence to be low, finding that only 49 per cent of firms say they expect their turnover to increase in the next twelve months, down from 56 per cent in Q3.
Meanwhile, accountancy body, ICAEW’s Business Confidence Monitor (BCM) for Q4 2024 put sentiment at just 0.2 on the index, the weakest reading since Q4 2022 and down from 14.4 in the previous quarter.
Entrepreneurial optimism remains
January is traditionally a time when small businesses look to start up or look for external finance. Start Up Loans found that the period between Christmas and New Year is a time many aspiring entrepreneurs used to find out more about setting up a business.
Using website traffic analysis, Start Up Loans found that during the period of 26 December to 1 January there were nearly 11,000 (10,938) users who visited the Start Up Loans website and there were 1,800 downloads of business guides from the website, with the business planning templates being the most popular.
Richard Bearman, co-chief banking officer at British Business Bank, said: “It’s reassuring to see that demand for small business start-up finance is holding up. There are many reasons to possibly put people off starting a business, but our data shows many potential business owners are actively seeking out business planning tips and templates.
“December and January is a period when many people have the time and motivation to explore setting up their own business and change direction. With demand for small business finance from Start Up Loans ticking up, we look forward to supporting more entrepreneurs during 2025.”
The Start-Up Loans Company is a wholly owned subsidiary of British Business Bank. It provides personal loans for business purposes of up to £25,000 per partner or owner in a business and to a maximum of £100,000 for a business.
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