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Success stories

We've already helped tens of thousands of individuals to start and grow their business. Learn how with our library of 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.

 

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Start Up Loans

Two Blues Solar

Dan Levene is co-founder of Two Blues Solar, a solar panel installation business which addresses the growing demand for sustainable solutions to help drive the nation's net-zero agenda.

Start Up Loans

Clevelli Bay

Eco-friendly household cleaning brand, Clevelli Bay, has been launched by a neurodivergent entrepreneur, inspired by Richard Branson’s stories about dyslexia and success, with the help of a £25,000 Start Up Loan from the British Business Bank.

Start Up Loans

Zig and Zag Handmade

Learn how Jane Henderson Forrest started their business Zig and Zag Handmade with help from a loan from Start Up Loans.

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Limitless

Francis Harwood, founder of Limitless is a Start Up Loans recipient. Francis took out his first loan of £10,000 via Let’s Do Business group when he was 23 years old. He took out a second loan of £5,000 in October 2023, when he was 24 years old.

Start Up Loans

Filmmaking Planner

In 2023, with the help of a £10,000 loan from Start Up Loans, my manifestations came into fruition and Filmmaking Planner was born.

Start Up Loans

Quarter

Best friends of 22 years Fabian Clark and Rohan Radhakrishnan co-founded the business in 2021 after seeing a gap in the existing all-or-nothing booze market. The low-alcohol, low-calorie gin product gives customers a great tasting alternative, without the possible side effects of the higher-alcohol options.

Start Up Loans

ETHOSA

Gaëlle Chatelard took out a £25,000 loan in August 2021 through delivery partner Virgin StartUp to help get her brand ETHOSA off the ground. ETHOSA is an innovative sustainable waterless personal care brand.

Start Up Loans

Dragonfly Films

Matt Everett borrowed £10,000 in July 2023 to grow into Dragonfly films. Dragonfly films is a London-based video production company using state-of-the-art equipment and modern techniques to deliver high-end video content for businesses nationwide.

Start Up Loans

Kindhaus

Learn more about Kindhaus Family Club, a “home away from home” for modern families that combines indoor play for the kids with coworking space for busy parents.

Start Up Loans

Clip Knix

Funmi Lalwal, 55, London originally came to Start Up Loans back in 2013 to help her set up a business teaching the elderly learn Microsoft skills. She created Clip Knix, a brand offering adapted fastening underwear for women in 2018 to solve a problem that she had noticed after suffering from ill health.

Start Up Loans

Chloe Bruce Academy

Chloe Bruce took out a loan of £12,500 to launch the Chloe Bruce Academy in 2020, a business offering virtual martial arts classes and tutorials.

Start Up Loans

Urbee

Cherisse Brown took out a £10,000 loan to launch Urbee, an e-shop aiming to raise awareness about the importance of bees and other pollinating insects and the need for their conservation.

Start Up Loans

Booheads

Ben Caspary launched Booheads in November 2020. His company makes sustainably made and biodegradable bamboo toothbrush heads for consumers seeking an alternative to the disposable plastic versions that end up in landfills.

Start Up Loans

Big Hair + Beauty

Melissa Sinclair took out a Start Up Loan to open Big Hair + Beauty, a natural haircare brand for afro and curly hair.

Start Up Loans

NICE

Jeremy May secured Start Up Loans funding through Virgin StartUp in February 2020. He had worked in the food and drink industry and came up with the idea for NICE after discovering an American brand of canned wine on Instagram and became immediately obsessed with the concept.

Start Up Loans

The Cheese Collective

Sam Elsdon took out a Start Up Loan to open The Cheese Collective, selling artisinal small-batch cheeses that you won’t find in supermarkets.

Start Up Loans

Vinkind

Formerly a police officer of six and a half years, Alex Habachi founded his e-commerce business Vinkind in 2016 with a £6,000 Start Up Loan via delivery partner X-Emergency Services (X-ES).