Case Studies

Katy Lassen borrowed £25,500 to grow into Harbour and Tide. Harbour & Tide is a modern local beach store in Margate, offering functional, joyful, and sustainable products for seaside life. The store was launched as a pop-up in 2022 and opened its first permanent location in Margate in Spring 2023.

The Singing Spice Company took out their loan of £6,000 in February 2023. The company aims to take the stress out of cooking by creating packs of spice blends that are hand blended to family recipes going back three generations.

Lifted Drinks took out their loan of £25,000 in May 2023. Lifted Drinks, based in Staffordshire, creates an alcohol-free beer that offers the taste of the beverage while incorporating the post-workout benefits of a protein shake.

Robin Valley, co-founded by husband and wife entrepreneurs Wanchong Chen and Liang Zhang, is a wooden jewellery brand that combines innovation, sustainability, and unique design.

In April 2022, Emma and Sebastian took out a loan of £20,000 each to set up Pastéis Lisboa, Scotland’s first specialist Pastel de Nata bakery, in the heart of Glasgow’s buzzing West End.

Hannah Saunders took out a £14,700 loan in 2020 to launch Toddle Born Wild, a natural vegan children skincare brand.

Cherisse Brown took out a £10,000 loan to launch Urbee, an e-shop aiming to raise awareness about the importance of bees and other pollinating insects and the need for their conservation.

Alan Lock and business partner John Mercer took out a loan of £15,000 in February 2020 to support the growth of Icarus Originals, a company founded on the premise of giving decommissioned aircraft a new life by turning them into bespoke, handmade jewellery and accessories – making memories out of icons.

Jeroo Doodmal secured a £15,000 loan in December 2021 to launch her sustainable Children’s footwear brand Pip & Henry, having noticed a gap in the market for sustainable, organic, and fair-trade children’s footwear options.

Ben Caspary launched Booheads in November 2020. His company makes sustainably made and biodegradable bamboo toothbrush heads for consumers seeking an alternative to the disposable plastic versions that end up in landfills.

Melissa Sinclair took out a Start Up Loan to open Big Hair + Beauty, a natural haircare brand for afro and curly hair.

Arabella Hill and Flavia Paterson took out two loans of £25,000 in January 2020 and £10,000 in June 2020 to set up Paterson and Hill, a clothing brand for women working in manual jobs.

After the loss of her brother in 2011 Tracy McAllister began to question if she was living life to the full. Losing her job in 2013 gave her the push she needed to follow her dreams and set up her coastal interiors boutique.

Brett’s Pets is a family-run pet shop, based in Chorley, Lancashire. It provides customers with a range of pet foods and products along with information and husbandry advice on most animals and exotic reptiles.

Katie had a genuine interest and passion for art, carpentry and upholstery. To enhance her talents she took a number of relevant courses at Glasgow College in 2013 and 2014 to secure a series of industry-recognised qualifications. This led to her submitting a piece into the Trades House Craftex competition in 2015 and was presented with the Marie Haring Prize for exceptional work and effort. Katie leveraged her customer service experience and years of various work experience to go solo, and launched The Krooked Kat in Perth, Scotland.

Jacqueline Moran, a mum and entrepreneur based in Wirral, used her Start Up Loan to set up The Sewing Room, which offers expert clothes fitting and alterations.

Palm tree plantations have a big environmental impact and this is one of the main reasons Katie decided to develop her own recipe, one which didn’t use this ingredient.

Pip Howeson is dedicated to the rejuvenation of the British textile industry, offering a bespoke tailoring service of handcrafted coats and jackets.