The British Business Bank’s Start Up Loans programme saw a 9% rise in loan volumes in 2024 compared to the previous calendar year, suggesting a continued entrepreneurial drive in the UK.

The 2024 calendar split into quarters also saw demand for Start Up Loans remain consistent in each quarter.

The programme, which provides finance and support to businesses across the UK that have been trading for 36 months or less (or 60 months for second loans), provided 10,432 loans in 2024 to business owners. Each quarter was as follows:

• January-March: 2,673 loans
• April-June: 2,621 loans
• July-September: 2,627 loans
• October-December: 2,511 loans

The demand for Start Up Loans runs counter to some other findings around business confidence. The British Chambers of Commerce found business confidence to be low, finding that only 49% of firms say they expect their turnover to increase in the next twelve months, down from 56% in Q3.

Accountancy body, ICAEW’s Business Confidence Monitor (BCM) for Q4 2024 put sentiment at just 0.2 on the index, the weakest reading since Q4 2022 and down from 14.4 in the previous quarter.

January is traditionally a time small businesses look to start up or look for external finance. Start Up Loans has found that the period between Christmas and New Year was a time many aspiring entrepreneurs used to find out more about setting up a business.

Using website traffic analysis, Start Up Loans found that during the period of 26th December - 1st January there were nearly 11,000 (10,938) users who visited the Start Up Loans website and there were 1,800 downloads of business guides from the website, with the business planning templates being the most popular.

Richard Bearman, Co-Chief Banking Officer, British Business Bank said: “It’s reassuring to see that demand for small business start up finance is holding up. There are many reasons to possibly put people off starting a business, but our data shows many potential business owners are actively seeking out business planning tips and templates.

“December and January is a period when many people have the time and motivation to explore setting up their own business and change direction.

“With demand for small business finance from Start Up Loans ticking up, we look forward to supporting more entrepreneurs during 2025.”

The Start-Up Loans Company is a wholly owned subsidiary of British Business Bank. It provides personal loans for business purposes of up to £25,000 per partner or owner in a business and to a maximum of £100,000 for a business.