A start-up scheme that will help launch up to 30,000 new companies has begun providing business support and loans to young people. The first wave of cash from the £82.5 million Start-Up Loans scheme is now being distributed, helping to inspire the next generation of entrepreneurs.

Start-Up Loans will provide budding entrepreneurs between the ages of 18-24 with a range of support, including access to a business mentor and capital, in the region of £2,500, to help get their business idea moving.

The announcement was made by Business Secretary Vince Cable as he spoke of the Government’s support for Small and Medium sized Enterprises (SMEs) at the MADE entrepreneurial festival in Sheffield. He met some of the young people who have received a Start-Up Loan and are taking their first steps in business.

More information is available at www.businessinyou.bis.gov.uk

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