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Start Up Loans programme celebrates £75 million in funding for Scottish businesses

Press release 09 June 2025

  • Young entrepreneur cooks up a storm after taking the reins of family catering business

Since launching in 2012, the Start Up Loans programme has provided over £75 million worth of funding to businesses in Scotland, with 8,000 loans provided to entrepreneurs by the end of April 2025

The recipient of the seventy-fifth millionth pound provided by the programme in Scotland is a 20-year-old award-winning hospitality entrepreneur, who is now gearing up for a busy summer of events in Dumfries and Galloway, following a funding boost from Start Up Loans to support the expansion of his business’s headquarters at the family farm in Sanquhar.

Knockenhair Hospitality is run by Harry Gallacher, with support from his siblings and cousins, and supplies top-quality food and drink for events of all kinds, from weddings and corporate dinners to gala days and pop-ups, including the annual Wigtown Book Festival.

The business recently received £20,000 funding through the Start Up Loans programme via its Business Support Partner, DSL Business Finance. The finance is supporting an upgrade to prep kitchen facilities and the purchase of industrial-scale equipment.

The family are no strangers to the catering scene, with Harry’s grandmother, Nancy, having operated a similar firm for over 30 years before retiring in 2015. Following in her footsteps, Harry studied professional cooking and hospitality management at Dumfries and Galloway College and started his own cake-making venture before deciding to bring the family business back to life at the age of just 18.

Gareth Thomas, Minister for Small Businesses, said: 

Supporting family run businesses like Knockenhair Hospitality to access the finance they need to scale up and succeed is a key part of our Plan for Change

This is an important milestone for the Start Up Loans programme in Scotland, helping to back our nation’s brilliant entrepreneurs and boost the economy right across the UK.

Nancy still helps out behind the scenes and gives her grandchildren valuable advice as well as taste-testing the firm’s famous strawberry tarts, of which over 6,000 were produced last year.

Since launching Knockenhair Hospitality in 2023, the business has grown to a team of 20 people and, following the kitchen refurbishment, Harry has ambitions to increase the business’s footprint in the years ahead. In November 2024, he picked up the Young Entrepreneur trophy at the Dumfries and Galloway Life Awards.

Harry said: 

While I was much too young to help out, I have fond memories of spending my weekends and school holidays pottering about in my gran’s commercial kitchen and getting a taste of how the business worked – as well as trialling the recipes. Going to college to study hospitality was the obvious choice for me after finishing school and, following stints working in a couple of local bars and pubs, I felt that the time was right to give the catering business a go.

The prep kitchen that my gran had used was still in decent condition, but now that I’m a couple of years into running the business, it feels like a good time to upgrade some of the equipment and increase the size of the space. It is still very much a family venture, and it is great to be able to get my gran’s advice and also pick up again with some of the regular customers that she catered for years before.

This summer we expect to be busier than ever with weddings and corporate events, covering everywhere from Glasgow to Carlisle.

Barry McCulloch, Senior Manager, UK Network, Scotland at the British Business Bank, said: 

Hospitality has been one of the core sectors that we have supported through the Start Up Loans programme in Scotland, so it is fitting to see the £75 million milestone celebrated with Knockenhair Hospitality. The success to date highlights the effectiveness of the programme in addressing regional imbalances and access to finance among smaller businesses, which are of huge importance to the Scottish economy – particularly in rural communities.

Lindsay Hamilton, loan officer at DSL Business Finance, added:

Working with Harry on his application for the Start Up Loan was a pleasure. Harry has a really good understanding of the financials of his business and was organised and professional, and able to give me all the required information in a timely manner. He is a driven individual and I can see how he has achieved so much at his young age.

Start Up Loans is a subsidiary of the British Business Bank and delivers the Government’s Start Up Loans programme, providing first loans to businesses that have been trading for three years or less and second loans to businesses that have been trading for up to five years.

As an official Business Support Partner for the Start Up Loan programme, DSL Business Finance operates within a network of Business Support Partners, delivering Start Up Loans in the range of £500 to £25,000 across the UK.

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 in the 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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