Evaluation of Start-up Loans – year 1 report

This evaluation provides an early assessment of the impact of the Start Up Loans programme. The programme’s primary objective is to encourage entrepreneurship in the UK, increase the rate of business creation and improve survival prospects. It reports that the programme is delivering benefits for its target group, and having a positive effect in terms of promoting enterprise.

Key findings from the first year of the evaluation are that the Startup Loans programme has:

• a significant and positive effect on the start-rate of beneficiary businesses.
• a significant and positive effect on expected sales change of beneficiary businesses.
• enabled its beneficiaries to have significantly higher levels of confidence in running and managing a business compared to the comparison group.

Longer-term effects of the programme – business survival, actual sales change and business performance impacts of mentoring – will be assessed in forthcoming years of the evaluation.

The early assessment indicates economic benefits of around £3 for every £1 of economic costs.