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North East start ups boosted by £60m from Start Up Loans

Press release 08 September 2025

  • The Start Up Loans programme has delivered the funding through 6,346 loans across the North East
  • 40% of the businesses supported are female-founded
  • County Durham and Sunderland received £11m and £5m respectively

The Start Up Loans programme, part of the British Business Bank, has injected £60m into businesses across the North East since the programme’s inception. This impressive figure equates to 6,346 loans, helping the region’s entrepreneurs to start and scale their businesses with confidence.

With targeted support aimed at groups who have been traditionally underrepresented in business finance provision, 40% of loan recipients across the North East were female founders. Budding young entrepreneurs aged 18-24 also made up 14% of loan recipients across the region. 

The programme has also helped to bring people across the North East back into the workforce. Nearly 20% of recipients were unemployed before starting their own business with the help of a Start Up Loan, and among those aged 18-24, a third were classified as NEET.

Looking across the region, County Durham received £11m in Start Up Loans funding across 1,198 loans with an average value of approximately £9,600. Sunderland also received £5m in funding across 548 loans, more than two in five (42%) of which were to female founders. 

Recent businesses to have received Start Up Loans funding across the region include South Shields-based decorating company AFL Decorating which received a £3,500 loan to invest in updated equipment and Hartlepool-based Nova Salon, which secured £15,000 to renovate their premises.

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

The Start Up Loans programme was created to support and empower budding entrepreneurs, and its targeted support is helping to drive job creation and uplift communities right across the North East.

I’m particularly encouraged to see such a strong record with uptake from female founders, helping to break traditional biases in finance and unlocking even more incredible business opportunities. The region is home to some amazing entrepreneurs and I can’t wait to see which ones we’ll support next, especially as the Start Up Loans programme has recently been given a £1bn funding boost to help even more people become their own boss.

JPC Specialist Motorsports, North East-based Start Up Loan recipient

Paul Connaughton, founder of JPC Specialist Motorsports, secured a total of £20,000 through the Start Up Loans programme, with support from the Business Enterprise Fund (BEF). 

JPC Specialist Motorsports was created to help raise vital funds for JPC Community Farm by offering passenger ride experiences, world-class car events and unforgettable automotive experiences.

Paul used his loan to support the growth of the business, ensuring the team could raise even more money for JPC Community Farm. 

JPC Specialist Motorsports and JPC Community Farm are named after Paul and Julie’s son, James Paul Connaughton. James was born in 2000 severely disabled and is non-verbal. He became socially aware by about 2012 and when Paul was watching Formula One on television, they noticed it was the first time James had paid attention to anything.

The couple would take James to motorsport events where he would love the roar and reverberation of the engines created by the cars on the track, and so JPC Specialist Motorsports is a perfect way to raise money for an important North East-based charity.

Commenting on the impact of the funding, Paul said:

My business wouldn’t be where it is today without the support from the Start Up Loans programme, and I want other budding entrepreneurs to know they can turn to the British Business Bank for support right from the very beginning.

Funding like this is essential for getting businesses off the ground, and it has enabled me to continue supporting the North East region, giving back to my community.

Further Information

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Notes to editors

About Start Up Loans

The Start Up Loans programme provides personal loans for business purposes of up to £25,000 at a 6% fixed interest rate per annum and offers free dedicated mentoring and support to each business.

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: Start Up Loans Free Start Up Guides. You can find recent media press releases on Start Up Loans Media Centre.

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.

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