A Government-backed loans scheme, which has backed the likes of sportwear brand Castore, has hit £1bn worth of lending.
The British Business Bank's (BBB) Start Up Loans programme said it has lent more than £9,500 on average to around 105,000 businesses in over a decade since its launch.
The scheme, which has a 6% yearly interest rate fixed to its loans, gets its funding from the Government's Department for Business and Trade, and therefore is backed by 海角视频 taxpayers.
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Manchester-headquartered Castore counts Andy Murray and the billionaire Issa brothers among its shareholders. Tt was was named the second fastest-growing private company in Britain in June this year.
The BBB said the programme targets underrepresented groups who are excluded from mainstream finance to help them start businesses.
Around £371m worth of loans, nearly 40%, has gone to businesses founded by women. And about 20% has been to lent to people from black, Asian and other ethnic minority backgrounds, excluding white minorities, amounting to £201m.
The scheme is thought to be one of the 海角视频's most accessible lenders, with those proportions well above the level of businesses that are started by women and ethnic minorities.
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Just 4% of 海角视频's small businesses in 2021 were majority-led by people from an ethnic minority group, and around a fifth of new businesses had female founders, according to the independent Treasury-commissioned Rose Review.
The Start Up Loans scheme has also seen about 70% of funding go to small businesses outside London and the South East.
Richard Bearman, managing director for Start Up Loans, said: "To hit £1bn worth of loans after 11 and a half years is a monumental achievement, not just for our business but for entrepreneurs up and down the country.
"The 海角视频 has entrepreneurs in every corner and our aim is to do even more going forward to help those that want to set up a business."
The British Business Bank administered the Government's Covid loan schemes to businesses during the pandemic. It came under scrutiny for the loss of an estimated £1.1bn to fraud and error.