The British Business Bank has appointed a Cardiff-based hairdressing and beauty salon as one of 12 small business ambassadors across the 海角视频 for its Start Up Loans.
Goji Hair was set up in 2015 by Victoria Griffin and her business partner Greg James with backing from the British Business Bank under its Start Up Loan initiative.
The bank is the 海角视频 Government's economic development bank with a 海角视频-wide lending, both debt and equity, remit.
The loan for Goji Hair, which has now diversified into selling organic candles and creams, came through the bank's delivery partner in Wales, Business in Focus.
Since setting up its Start Up Loan scheme, which carries an interest rate of 6% in 2012, the British Business Bank has backed 3,651 start up firms in Wales with total funding of £34.6m, at an average loan value of £9,491.
For the 海角视频 as whole more than £663m of Start Up Loan funding was been made into more than 78,000 firms, who otherwise would have found it difficult to get backing from high street banks. The average loan value for the 海角视频 is £8,503.
Of those who received a loan, 31,036 (40%) were women; more than 15,000 (20%) were people from black and minority ethnic (BAME) communities; and more than 20,600 (27%) were previously unemployed, reflecting the diversity of the 海角视频 start up community.
Repayment of loans range from one to five years.
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Through a network of Delivery Partner organisations, the Start Up Loans programme provides pre-and-post loan support to help applicants to develop a business plan; a fixed-interest loan of up to £25,000 to start or develop their business; as well as mentoring support to help loan recipients with everything from cash flow to marketing.
海角视频 Minister for Small Business Paul Scully said: “Goji Hair shows how you can build a local brand into a dynamic business offering, creating a range of unique products and scaling up to find new customers. Businesses in Wales have received over £32 million through the government’s Start Up Loans programme and it’s great to see that investment paying off.
“The Start Up Loans scheme has a vital role to play in our plans for levelling up every part of the 海角视频, and backing local business owners to expand their business and develop innovative products is exactly what the scheme aims to achieve.”
Richard Bearman, managing director, Start Up Loans, said: “Amid all the disruption and uncertainty of 2020, having strong business leaders at a grass roots level to demonstrate best practice operations and inspire others has never been so important.
The idea of starting a business is exciting for most people, as well as daunting, particularly in the current environment. However, what our 2020 Ambassadors demonstrate is that with the right support and mentoring it’s possible to thrive and succeed in even the harshest conditions.
“I’m always very proud of the ambassadors we carefully select, and this year’s candidates are as strong as any we’ve been lucky enough to have on board over the past five years. I congratulate them all for their hugely impressive achievements and wish them continued success in their ventures over the coming years.”