Start Up Loans Ambassadors 2026/2027

The annual Start Up Loans Ambassadors programme celebrates inspiring UK business owners who have launched their company using funding from the British Business Bank’s Start Up Loans programme. The Ambassadors have been selected for demonstrating the determination, motivation, forward-thinking and resilience needed to make entrepreneurship a success, providing inspiration for aspiring business owners across the UK.

This year as well as Ambassadors from every UK Devolved nation and region we have two further specialist Ambassadors covering the armed forces veteran community and the Gen Z age group - two important groups supported by the Start Up Loans programme who may face even greater challenges in accessing finance elsewhere.

Since its inception in 2012, the Start Up Loan programme has delivered more than 140,000 loans to business owners across the UK, amounting to more than £1.4bn funding.

Previous Start Up Loans Ambassadors have gone on to secure considerable growth, such as DASH Water, NICE Drinks and UK Connect. 

This year, the Start Up Loans scheme is encouraging established, successful business owners to pass on the benefit of their experience to the new Ambassadors. Co-Founder of DASH Water, Alex Wright, offers encouragement, advising: "Don't be afraid to put yourself out there - start small, get feedback, iterate, and go again. It's the same model Eric Ries sets out in The Lean Startup, and it's served us well at DASH."

Emilie Vanpoperinghe, CEO and Co-Founder of Oddbox also has advice to smaller business owners: “The strongest brands feel authentic. If what you do consistently matches what you believe, people actually feel that and over time that will build a strong brand. So, I encourage the Start Up Loans Ambassadors to be authentic and to be intentional and consistent with what they do with their business.” 

This year's Ambassadors having also been passing on their advice, including Natasha Duncan, Founder of Monk & Smuggler, who gave her piece of advice to someone starting a business as: “My advice would be to go for it. Starting a business is challenging but it’s also incredibly rewarding. It’s completely normal to have doubts about whether everything will work out as planned but you learn so much along the way. You’ve just got to give it everything you’ve got from day one, keep learning, and keep going, because I can say from experience that the rewards are definitely worth it.”