British Business Bank's Start Up Loans delivers £90m funding in the South East

More than 9,000 loans totalling £90 million has been delivered to startups in South East England by Start Up Loans, a subsidiary of the British Business Bank.

Started in 2012, Start Up Loans aims to help people start their own business and by extension reduce regional imbalances.

Hampshire has been the largest recipient of funding, with £18,289,317 invested across 1748 loans, followed by Kent, which had a larger number of loans (1809) but received £15,707,301 in funding.

Perhaps unsurprisingly given its size, the Isle of Wight received the least funding, with 23 loans totalling £1,516,430. More unexpectedly, the next least was Oxfordshire on £6,778,200 across 570 loans, although this may in part be due to the county’s already strong investment infrastructure.

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Richard Bearman, Managing Director of Start-Up Loans, said: “Start Up Loans was established to help people across the UK achieve their ambition of becoming their own boss and I am very proud to say that since its inception, Start Up Loans has now delivered more than 9,000 loans worth over £90 million to businesses in the South East alone.

“The experiences of our Start Up Loans business owners suggests that no matter where you are from, one of the keys to starting a business is having the encouragement and support to do so.”

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