Kickstarting this week’s Business Finance Bulletin, the Recovery Loan Scheme has had a quiet start since its launch but the number of lenders on the panel is now slowly increasing. We look at the latest additions and what continues to hold the Scheme back.

The Start Up Loan Company is encouraging younger people to think about becoming entrepreneurs. This is off the back of an analysis of the 80,000 loans they have distributed which reveals a large portion have gone to new business owners in the 18 to 24 year old age range. How could the loan assist you?

To close, a look at findings from the latest Lloyds Bank UK Recovery Tracker, which uncovers that the UK’s key sectors are back on the path to growth.

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If you prefer to read about this week’s news, here’s a transcript of the content…

More lenders offering the Recovery Loan Scheme; young and budding entrepreneurs encouraged to look at a startup loan; and key UK sectors of back on the growth trajectory. All of this in the latest Business Finance Bulletin.

Recovery Loan Scheme Lenders

The Recovery Loan Scheme launched on the 6th of April, and there hasn’t been an awful lot of noise in the marketplace as regards how successful or otherwise that it’s been. Before we take a look at why this is, let’s remind ourselves quickly of the key features of the Recovery Loan Scheme.

It’s designed to help promote growth, so if you’re looking for additional working capital or cash; buying plants and equipment and machinery, then this is the loan for you. If you don’t want to provide a personal guarantee, you can borrow up to a maximum of £250,000 with no personal guarantee. If you’d want to borrow more than your guarantee would be limited to 20% of the balance.

The interest rate is capped at 14.99% and in terms of the loan term, it depends on the type of product you take be it would be a maximum of three years or a maximum of six years.

Demand at the moment, is still a bit muted and it’s all down to the makeup of the panel. During the early days, it was really only the high street banks and a few other niche players but over the last couple of weeks, we’ve started now to see lenders coming on to the scheme, having applied for and being accredited by the British Business Bank.

The panel, as I record this, now stands at 27 lenders and the recent additions include Triodos bank, Atom bank and Synergy bank, so we’re starting to see some activity coming through.

However, one thing to bear in mind is that the appetite to support is going to be quite varied. The high street banks, well they’re probably going to be quite tough. The other ones are focusing on particular products, but also some of them are being very careful by saying it’s open for only existing customers.

Some of them are saying you have to provide security, which is a bit strange considering the government’s giving an 80% guarantee; a bit bizarre.

So you can see the panel is quite tight and there’s going to be reasons for you to really look closely at each of them to see whether it fits your needs.

If you want to know which lenders are on the panel, just go along to the British Business Bank website, which is www.british-business-bank.co.uk.

Alternatively, of course continue watching this Bulletin and periodically I’ll be telling you about all the new lenders who are coming on the Scheme.

Start Up Loans for Young Entrepreneurs

In the pandemic, one sector of society that has been hit particularly badly are the millennials. These are the 18 to 24 year olds who’ve been hit hardest when it comes to unemployment with them taking the brunt of job losses.

Well, the Start Up Loan Companies, is launching a campaign to encourage these 18 to 24 year olds to not necessarily think about getting a job, but perhaps to think about starting a business.

If you are starting a business, of course, some startup capital will always help and that’s where the Start Up Loan Company comes in.

Since it’s been going since 2012, of the 80,000 successful loan applicants they had, 54% of them have been unemployed and of all of that 54%, 31% of them were 18 to 24 year olds.

Now, interestingly, over the last year, the number of people applying for this in the 18 to 24 year old range range has doubled compared to 2019. So we can see there’s a lot of interest from young people in terms of starting a business. And this is what the startup loan company is hoping to tap into.

If you are in that age bracket and you’re looking to start a business, check out startup loans, it’s a great product.

If there’s four of you, each of you can have a maximum of £25,000, or if you’re on your own, it’s a maximum of £25,000. The interest rate is 6% and you can pay the loan back over five years. Great interest rates and a great loan term.

If you want to know more, just go along to their website, which is www.startuploans.co.uk

Back on the Growth Path

According to the latest Lloyd’s bank UK Recovery Tracker, all the key sectors in the UK economy are starting to look at growth again.

Their latest report for April highlights that of the 14 sectors they regularly monitor, all 14 of them reported positive growth output in the month of April. Now that is the first time since August, 2018, that all 14 sectors have recorded growth. In March it was 11 sectors recording growth. So you can see there’s now been a further increase, which is great news for the economy.

Which sectors are leading the pack? Well it’s manufacturing and also technology. Those are the ones that grew by the largest amount.

However, what is even more encouraging that 13 of the 14 sectors though have reported growth plans over the next 12 months, which is going to exceed that recorded by their global counterparts. So it does appear that UK entrepreneurs and business owners are feeling a lot more optimistic and a lot more bullish than their overseas competitors.

Overall really good news for the UK economy, which means that hopefully we’ll finish 2021 with some very strong figures.

Wrap Up

Well, that’s it for another Bulletin and as ever, I hope you enjoyed watching it, and if you did please don’t forget to subscribe to this channel or hit the like and share button.

I look forward to being with you again, next time.

Start ups can find it challenging to raise finance but since 2012 the Start Up Loans Company has filled the gap. We open our latest Bulletin by looking at a new milestone they have reached in terms of loans disbursed to start up businesses.

The government continues to ramp up its focus on tackling the late payment scourge. New measures have been announced by the Small Business Minister to curb the ability of larger businesses to misuse their power when it comes to money owed to small businesses.

To close, a look at the annual Working Capital Index survey from Lloyds Bank which reveals that businesses are continuing to hold onto growing levels of excess working capital. We ask why this should be of concern.

If you would prefer to listen to the podcast version you can click below or download to listen to later via our Soundcloud, Spotify, Stitcher or itunes channel.

One problem which can affect the outcome of your finance request is your credit score. In this Bulletin we look at findings from a recent survey carried out by Ratesetter Business Finance which reveals how many business owners have never checked their score. Don’t be one of them.

Business optimism appears to be on the up again. That the finding from the latest Deloitte’s quarterly Chief Finance Officer’s survey. However, a good number are still less than rosy. What factors are driving down the level of optimism?

Since the government’s Start Up Loan Co was launched in 2012 how exactly has it helped boost start ups? The British Business Bank has undertaken a review of its effectiveness and we look at how both starts ups and the overall economy have benefited from the support provided by the Start Up Loan Company.

If you would prefer to listen to the podcast version you can click below or download to listen to later via our Soundcloud, Stitcher or itunes channel.

Getting finance for a start up business has always been tough but with the Start Up Loans Company, the pain has been eased. In this Bulletin, looking back on the loans they made in 2016, which UK start up hotspot cities have taken advantage of the loans available?

Different methods of calculating interest rates can make comparing finance options a challenge. We take a look at a new online tool from short term lender Fleximize, which can help you compare finance offers on a like-for-like basis.

The latest SME Confidence Tracker survey from Bibby Financial Services reveals the top three challenges facing UK manufacturers. The top slot is taken by concern about rising prices but other constraints are also weighing heavy on the minds of UK SMEs.

If you would prefer to listen to the podcast version you can click below or download to listen to later via our Soundcloud, Stitcher or itunes channel.

To start off this Business Finance Bulletin we take a look at a new milestone achieved by the Start Up Loans Company in terms of the volume of loans disbursed. However, the question is being asked as to how much this government scheme has lost in the form of written-off loans and those that have fallen into default.

According to latest figures from the Asset Based Finance Association this sector, which covers invoice discounting and asset finance, has also reached new heights with a record amount of business being written in the 12 months to June.

What about business confidence post the Brexit vote? We take a look at how business owners are feeling about their prospects and what you should do now in case the mood changes.

If you would prefer to listen to the podcast version you can click below or download to listen to later via our Soundcloud, Stitcher or itunes channel.

In this episode of the Business Finance Bulletin we start off with news of the latest addition to the BLS team, Simon Watts. We will be hearing from Simon in a future Bulletin with his thoughts on obtaining finance from banks.

Access to finance for start ups has always been a challenge and in this episode we look at a milestone reached by the Start Up Loan Company which was established in 2012 to help new businesses get finance.

Increasing competition in the SME finance sector has always been on the government’s radar and as part of its review into this issue the Competition and Markets Authority is advocating an SME finance Price Comparison website. Could it work?

Continuing our look at the findings of the latest SME Finance Monitor Report we look at the gap between business owner’s confidence levels at getting finance and what the actual success rate is after they have applied.

In the Business Finance Tip of the Week Rob shares a lesson learned from three recent client meetings which reveal that banks are indeed waking up.

If you would prefer to listen to the podcast version you can click below or download to listen to later via our Soundcloud, Stitcher or itunes channel.

In the latest edition of the Business Finance Bulletin Rob Warlow looks at the findings from Close Brothers Business Barometer which reveals how reluctant some business owners are in hunting out new finance providers.

On the alternative finance scene Rob talks about Metro Bank’s 2014 results and how it’s living up to its aim of being regarded as the ‘bank for entrepreneurs’ by the range of business finance solutions it can offer.
Rob also reveals how the option to tap into the ‘crowd’ to fund expansion plans has been made easy with the news that FundingKnight has doubled the maximum amount it can arrange.

If you are a start up it is not easy to source finance but Rob looks at the news from the Start Up Loans company, the government supported loan company, on a new milestone being reached in terms of the number of loans granted.

And in the Business Finance Tip of the Week, a look at the looming Self Assessment deadline and what you can do to avoid a last minute panic!

If you prefer to listen to this week’s Bulletin in your car or on your phone you can download this episode via our SoundCloud page by clicking below.