British Business Bank programme celebrates 10th anniversary

Portadown’s Mama Claudia, a company selling a range of baby and children's products, is among 12 small businesses to be selected as champions of UK start-ups by Start Up Loans, part of the British Business Bank.

The announcement comes as the programme celebrates its 10-year anniversary, having delivered 1,495 loans worth over £12m to new business owners in NI since 2012.

One such recipient of these loans is Claudia Mariza Rosado e Costa, founder of Mama Claudia, who took out her loan of £3,300 in 2018.

When Claudia’s first daughter was born, she found it difficult to find quality and reasonably priced essentials. When she found out she was going to have a second child, she took matters into her own hands and Mama Claudia was born.

Claudia said “I create top quality baby essentials at great value prices because I believe that all parents deserve great products at a price that won’t break the bank. I run the business single-handed which of course comes with its challenges, particularly juggling being a parent. However, I am so proud of how far the business has come and I urge any mums who are interested in entrepreneurship to take the plunge and explore the finance options available to them via Start Up Loans.”

The annual Start Up Loans Ambassadors programme, now in its seventh year, celebrates business owners, like Claudia, who have followed their ambition of becoming their own boss after receiving support from the government-backed Start Up Loans programme.

Drawn from each of the UK’s 12 nations and regions, the 2022 Start Up Loans ambassadors reflect the broad diversity and ambition of the nation’s smaller business sector at a grass roots level.

Start Up Loans was established as a £10m pilot scheme by Lord Young in 2012.

Since then, the programme has delivered more than 97,000 loans to business owners across the UK, amounting to more than £900m of funding, while expanding to support entrepreneurs of all ages. 40% of loan recipients have been women and 21% people from minority ethnic backgrounds. 40% of recipients have been aged 18-30, reflecting the scheme’s continued support for the next generation of UK business owners.

Tina McKenzie, Policy and Advocacy chair at the Federation of Small Businesses, explained: “This is great news from the British Business Bank, marking 10 years of improving the small business ‘birth rate’, and at the same time powering the levelling up agenda by supporting small business creation in all the UK nations and regions. Today’s figures and ambassadors are a real legacy for Lord Young, and we hope that this can be built on and expanded in future.”

Through a network of delivery partner organisations including RNIB, the Start Up Loans programme provides access to pre-and-post loan support to help applicants to develop a business plan; fixed-interest first and second loans of up to £25,000 to start or grow their business; as well as mentoring support to help loan recipients with everything from cash flow to marketing.

In 2022, the programme was expanded to make first loans available to businesses that have been trading for up to three years, and second loans to businesses up to five years.