Search Start Up Loans
Popular Search placeholder

East Sussex business owners have received £10m Start Up Loans funding

Press release 12 August 2026

Hastings leads entrepreneurial activity in East Sussex

Entrepreneurs in East Sussex have received more than £10m in funding from the British Business Bank’s Start Up Loans programme which provides government-backed personal loans and mentoring to new businesses. The latest figures show that more than 1,000 Start Up Loans have supported local people to start or grow a business in East Sussex.

More than four in ten (41%) Start Up Loans have been delivered to female business owners, well above other comparable sources of finance*. 22% of the finance for 18-24 years olds went to those not in education, employment or training (NEET).

By location, the highest number of loans have gone to residents in Hastings (295), followed by Wealden (244) and Lewes (190), with the total value of loans to date standing at £2.54m, £2.65m, and £1.8m respectively.

Adjusted for population size, Hastings stands out as the most entrepreneurial area in East Sussex with 32 loans per 10,000 residents. Rother and Lewes were second and third respectively, both with 19 loans per 10,000 residents.

Louise McCoy, Managing Director, Start Up Loans Products at the British Business Bank, said:

We are delighted that Start Up Loans has supported more than 1,000 East Sussex business owners, and the figure continues to rise. We provide much more than just loans, including helping business owners with mentoring and other types of support as well.

We recently expanded our eligibility criteria so businesses up to five years old can now apply for a Start Up Loan, and we’re looking forward to helping even more people across East Sussex set up or grow a business.

Storage Bros is an independent self-storage business based in Newhaven, providing clean, secure, and flexible storage for local households, trades, and businesses. It’s two directors each took out a £25,000 Start Up Loan to support an expansion in operations.

Jamie O’Mara, Director of Storage Bros, commented:

The finance really helped us move forward with more confidence. More than just the funding itself, it gave us real momentum and validation that we were building something with strong potential.

It allowed us to invest further into the business, improve our facilities and keep growing the Storage Bros brand locally. Having that backing at an important stage helped us push on, make decisions quicker and continue building a business that customers trust.

The impact has been really positive. Since then, we have grown our customer base, increased our storage offering and created more opportunities around the business, including container sales, industry content and supporting others who are looking to get into self-storage.

The British Business Bank is expanding its support for entrepreneurs in every corner of the UK with further commitments of £2.6bn of capital. £350m has already been allocated to two new Nations and Regions Investment Funds in the East of England and the South East, which are due to launch in September 2026.

This will mean targeted finance is available in every UK Nation and region outside London.

 

*In 2024 around 14% of SME employers were women-led. Source: Longitudinal Small Business Survey 2024: SME employers (businesses with 1 to 249 employees). 

Further Information

If you are a journalist and have a media enquiry, please contact [email protected].

Notes to editors

Start Up Loans East Sussex Lending data

Local authorityPopulationVolume of loansLoans per 10,000 people
Hastings91,21929532.3
Rother96,13318218.9
Lewes102,36319018.6
Eastbourne104,25918417.6
Wealden166,90824414.6

Source: www.eastsussexinfigures.org.uk/population-estimates-in-2024-august-2025_2/

About Start Up Loans

The Start Up Loans programme provides personal loans for business purposes of up to £25,000 at a fixed interest rate per annum and offers free dedicated mentoring and support to each business. Eligibility for a first Start Up Loan has been extended to businesses that have been trading for up to 60 months.

The primary aim of the Start Up Loans programme is to ensure that viable start-ups and early-stage businesses have access to the finance and support they need in order to thrive. A network of Business Support Partner organisations supports applicants in all regions and industries throughout the UK. The Start Up Loans programme is not designed to generate a commercial profit. Capital payments together with the interest are recycled to help meet increasing demands for finance. 

Free guides on a range of subjects related to starting a business are available on the Start Up Loans website. You can find recent media press releases here.

The funding for the Start Up Loans programme is provided by the Department for Business and Trade (DBT). The Start Up Loans programme is operated by The Start-Up Loans Company, a company limited by guarantee, registered in England and Wales, registration number 08117656, registered office at Steel City House, West Street, Sheffield, S1 2GQ.  The Start-Up Loans Company is a wholly owned subsidiary of British Business Bank plc which is a development bank wholly owned by HM Government. British Business Bank plc and its subsidiaries are not banking institutions and do not operate as such. With the exception of BBB Investment Services Limited they are not authorised or regulated by the Prudential Regulation Authority or the Financial Conduct Authority. BBB Investment Services Limited is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. A complete legal structure chart for the group can be found at british-business-bank.co.uk.  

Quick links

Latest news