News | UK Government launches StartUp Loans for young people in England

The StartUp Loans project was officially launched on Monday 28 May 2012 at a Department for Business / StartUp Britain organised event in London.

StartUp Loans is a UK Government backed project which will provide loans averaging £2,500 per person to young people aged 18-24 who want to start a business.

The money is provided by the Government although it's expected that some private sector funding will also be included. Lenders have up to 5yrs to repay the loan and can take a 1yr 'repayment holiday' at the start before having to pay anything back.

To coincide with the launch, Lord Young ('Godfather of StartUp Loans') has also released the first comprehensive report on small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in 40yrs since the Bolton Report of 1971 titled 'Make Business Your Business'.

Watch this great video of Lord Young below in which he explains what the StartUp Loans are, who can apply and how it will all work.

Shell LiveWIRE supports StartUp Loans

The Shell LiveWIRE team are fully behind the StartUp Loans project and our Project Director, Stuart Anderson has been involved in discussions which influenced the idea through his work with the National Youth Enterprise Working Group (NYEWG).

StartUp Loans are just getting started, but it's hoped that tens of thousands of people will be helped through the project over the next 3yrs but we need everyone in Britain to get behind them and to do their bit to spread the word and encourage people to apply.

If you don't like the idea of taking out a loan for your business, or are slightly too old to apply for the StartUp Loans, the Shell LiveWIRE programme has 4 x cash prizes of £1,000 to give away to 16-30yr olds each month. This is no-strings-attached funding for pre-start businesses and those that have been running for less than 12 months. Apply online now for the chance to win!

What do you think of StartUp Loans?

What do you think? Is this what Britain needs to help kickstart the economy and will you be applying for a loan yourself? Share your comments and feedback in our brand new StartUp Loans Forum so we can share with everyone involved...