Food and drink | Start Up Loans Company

Success Stories

We've already helped tens of thousands of individuals to start and grow their business. Read on for the full story on some of our most inspiring loan recipients: why they became their own boss, the challenges they faced and overcame along the way and how a Start Up Loan helped them to achieve their dreams.

Solo Coffee

Food and drink

Former baristas Theo Garcia, 24, and Alex Foss Sims, 29, met while working in a coffee shop in Gloucestershire. They started producing bottled,...

Food and drink

Brothers Sam, Tom and Patrick Quilliam have combined to create Quilliam Brothers. Located in the heart of Newcastle Quilliam Brothers is a tea house...

Food and drink

Baked In was started by Joe who was later joined in the business by his brother Patrick. Their mission is to bring baking to the masses with an...

Food and drink

Entrepreneur, Laura Lautrete, is bringing a new culinary concept to Chester with the launch of her grilled cheese café, Meltdown, thanks to a Start...

Food and drink

Robert D’Orville received a Start Up Loan of £25,000 in March 2015, enabling him to take ownership of Berry’s Bakery in Preston, Lancashire. When...

Food and drink

Katerina Pavlakis had a background in both running her own business and working in London. When she and her husband, Colin Bass, moved to rural...

Food and drink

Founded by Duncan O’Brien, Dalston Cola was established in response to a request from an organisation to make a cola that was not Coca Cola. With...

Food and drink

Inspired by the London foodie scene, Mechelle’s recent redundancy spurred her on to launch her own business, Melt Aberdeen. Melt Aberdeen has...

Food and drink

Amanjot Johal was struck by the quality of bars he found in the capital as he set up a bar for another company in 2011. Great cocktails were...

Pencil & Fork

David Sanchez is the founder and owner of Pencil & Fork, a business which provides an innovative approach to learning using food. Pencil &...

Food and drink

Victoria Corney-Young’s creative development of Ettie, her 1957 Citroen H Van, and launch of The Street Pantry is going from strength to strength....

Food and drink

John Otagburuagu founded Black Cowboy Coffee and Waffles in August 2015. As the name might suggest, the street cafe serves coffee and waffles (as...

Arrea Limited

Antimo is the founder of Arrea Limited, a commercial science company situated in London, which is trying to find ways for people to tackle air...

Food and drink

The Poptata story began in May 2015 with a temporary gazebo set up at London’s Portobello Road market over the weekend. Marco and Luca wanted to...

The Nests Little Smallholding

Georgie Mitchell gave up her job as a university lecturer teaching Child Development and Counselling and used a £7000 Start Up Loan to launch The...

Food and drink

Lorraine Phillips started her café in April 2016 after working as a nurse in the NHS for 25 years. She decided that it was time for a change and had...