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Start Up Loans celebrates £100m of loans delivered to entrepreneurs in East of England

Press release 21 October 2025

  • The Start Up Loans programme has delivered more than 9,500 loans worth over £100 million to businesses in the East of England
  • 766 loans have been drawn down by recipients in the East of England in the past 12 months, totaling £10.3 million

Start Up Loans, part of the British Business Bank, today announces that the programme has delivered more than 9,500 loans worth more than £100 million to founders from across the East of England. 

The government-backed programme, has delivered 9,581 loans with a total value of £101.5 million since its inception in 2012. Of these, 766 loans amounting to more than £10 million were drawn down in the last 12 months, signifying an entrepreneurial spirit across the region despite a difficult economic backdrop. 

CountyVolume of loansValue of loans
Essex2,059£22.01M
Hertfordshire2,050£22.35M
Other*2,049£21.29M
Norfolk1,444£14.47M
Suffolk1,066£11.03M
Cambridgeshire913£10.34M

Of the total 9,581 loans delivered in the East of England, 40% were taken out by female founders and 17% were from Black, Asian and Other Ethnic Minority backgrounds (not including White Minorities). Young people between 18-24 years old received 12% of the loans, and 13% of founders were aged 50 or over.

The Start Up Loans programme is committed to lending to founders that may otherwise face difficulty in accessing finance. Since 2012, nearly a quarter (23%) of loans in the East of England have gone to founders that are unemployed, with this rising to over a quarter (27%) for Gen-Z founders who aren’t in employment or education.

The one hundred millionth pound of funding was taken out by Tammy Walker, founder of Blissful Beauty Bus by Tammy. Using a loan of £3,500, beauty therapist Tammy converted a Sprinter van into a beauty salon, creating a serene space where clients can receive treatments without the need to travel.

Tammy Walker, founder of Blissful Beauty Bus by Tammy, Norfolk: 

As a mobile beauty therapist, I thought, why not convert a van into my own beauty salon on wheels? I’m the only business of this kind in Norfolk, which allows me to travel to clients all over. I love hosting pamper parties, but I also have my regular clients and cater to those who may not be mobile enough to get into the van. The loan helped me kit out the van and the mentoring was incredibly helpful in making this idea a reality.

Another example of a business in the region which has benefitted from Start Up Loans financing and support is Hippy Hut Pottery. The owner Cally James became an Ambassador for Start Up Loans in 2024.

Hippy Hut Pottery hosts intimate workshops and hands-on classes for up to eight people, at a bespoke studio in Bury St Edmunds. Beyond the studio, business owner Cally has scaled up the offer and now brings the art of pottery to life at corporate events across the UK, giving companies the chance to bring employees together to collaborate in creative ways away from their desks. The business was launched using a loan of £14,000 with support from BizBritain, which Cally used to purchase a new kiln and additional equipment to help her keep up with increasing demand for her workshops.

Louise McCoy, Managing Director of Start Up Loans Products commented: 

I am thrilled to celebrate the milestone of £100 million being delivered to founders in the East of England, supporting nearly 10,000 entrepreneurs across a host of sectors. This achievement highlights the strong entrepreneurial nature of the East of England and businesses like Tammy’s and Cally’s are a great example of using a loan to diversify your business and offer something unique.

The businesses we’re supporting are often very early stage, as the average loan size of just over £10,500 shows, which is an area of the market that is often underserved and quite frankly under-supported. And this is why it’s so important that Start Up Loans is there helping micro-businesses to start up and grow. With the programme set to expand further we’re expecting to be able to help even more businesses in the East of England in the future.

The government’s recent Backing Your Business Plan announced that the Start Up Loans programme has been expanded and will provide more than £1bn of additional lending to entrepreneurs. The programme is being scaled up to provide 69,000 loans over the next Spending Review period, with an expected increase in average loan size from £12,000 to £15,000. Based on Bank estimates, the expansion of the programme could contribute approximately £1.3bn in additional economic output, generate an additional £3.1bn of turnover and create an additional 12,600 jobs over the life of the finance.

For more information, please visit startuploans.co.uk

ENDS

*Data is based on the ONS. All of the values attributed to the county ‘Other' are referring to postcodes in the EoE but they don't belong to a specific County. An example of this would be Peterborough which is itself a unitary authority belonging to the combined authority of 'Cambridgeshire and Peterborough' but is not part of the county of Cambridgeshire.

Here is a breakdown of the ‘other’ category’

Unitary Authority - Central Bedfordshire473£5.37M
Unitary Authority - Luton362£3.39M
Unitary Authority - Southend-on-Sea318£3.21M
Unitary Authority - Peterborough310£3.19M
Unitary Authority - Bedford297£2.92M
Unitary Authority - Thurrock289£3.2M

Further Information

If you are a journalist and have a media enquiry, please contact mediaenquiries@british-business-bank.co.uk.

Notes to editors

The Start Up Loans programme provides personal loans for business purposes of up to £25,000 at a fixed interest rate per annum and offers free dedicated mentoring and support to each business.

The primary aim of the Start Up Loans programme is to ensure that viable start-ups and early-stage businesses have access to the finance and support they need in order to thrive. A network of Business Support Partner organisations supports applicants in all regions and industries throughout the UK. The Start Up Loans programme is not designed to generate a commercial profit. Capital payments together with the interest are recycled to help meet increasing demands for finance.

Free guides on a range of subjects related to starting a business are available on the Start Up Loans website. You can find recent media press releases here.

The funding for the Start Up Loans programme is provided by the Department for Business and Trade (DBT). The Start Up Loans programme is operated by The Start-Up Loans Company, a company limited by guarantee, registered in England and Wales, registration number 08117656, registered office at Steel City House, West Street, Sheffield, S1 2GQ. The Start-Up Loans Company is a wholly owned subsidiary of British Business Bank plc which is a development bank wholly owned by HM Government. British Business Bank plc and its subsidiaries are not banking institutions and do not operate as such. With the exception of BBB Investment Services Limited they are not authorised or regulated by the Prudential Regulation Authority or the Financial Conduct Authority. BBB Investment Services Limited is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. A complete legal structure chart for the group can be found at british-business-bank.co.uk.

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