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Providers sought to help deliver start-up loans for young people

The initiative aims to provide budding entrepreneurs with support and a small amount of capital to help them get started as well as access to…

This was published under the 2010 to 2015 Conservative and Liberal Democrat coalition government

The initiative aims to provide budding entrepreneurs with support and a small amount of capital to help them get started as well as access to training and business mentors.

The Government is now inviting organisations and consortiums who can offer the right level of support to deliver the programme to bring forward their proposals.

Business and Enterprise Minister Mark Prisk said:

“We want to give young people the best possible chance to start and grow their own enterprise. This scheme is not just providing a small amount of funding, but is about looking at the bigger picture and we want to be able to offer a full package of business training and mentoring.

“We want providers to come forward and demonstrate how they will be best placed to deliver this exciting scheme. By encouraging more young people to get into business we will be able to boost their entrepreneurial spirit and help the future growth of the UK economy.”

An initial £10 million has been announced to provide capital for Start-up Loans that will help tens of thousands of young people take their first steps as entrepreneurs every year.

Stu Anderson, Project Director Shell LiveWIRE said:


These loans offer the chance for many young people with little financial track record to access seed funding to get their ideas off the ground.

“There are thousands of young people with great ideas who find it hard to access funding because of this. This scheme not only offers a chance to finance an idea, but it also packages together support to ensure that they have they best possible chance of success in business.”

Full details of the scheme will be announced following the expressions of interest stage. Any young person between the ages of 18-24 with a viable business idea could be eligible.

This year the Government is running the _Business in You _campaign to encourage more people to start or grow their business throughout 2012 using a range of existing support services. More information is available at businessinyou.bis.gov.uk.

Notes to editors

  1. Any providers or consortiums interested in expressing an interest can find more information by visiting http://www.bis.gov.uk/startup-loans.

  2. Expressions of interest are open until 12pm on Wednesday 9 May.

  3. Start-up Loans for young people was announced as part of the budget with an initial £10 million for a pilot scheme.

  4. BIS’s online newsroom contains the latest press notices, speeches, as well as video and images for download. It also features an up to date list of BIS press office contacts. See http://www.bis.gov.uk/newsroom for more information.

Notes to Editors

Contact Information

Name BIS Press Office Job Title

Division Department for Business, Innovation & Skills Phone

Fax

Mobile

Email bispress.releases@bis.gsi.gov.uk

Name Dan Palmer Job Title

Division Department for Business, Innovation and Skills Phone 020 7215 5303 Fax

Mobile

Email dan.palmer@bis.gsi.gov.uk

Published 27 April 2012