Success Stories

The first deal from the Investment Fund for Northern Ireland saw fund manager Whiterock facilitate a £100,000 loan to The Bucks Head Inn in Dundrum.

An award-winning Belfast boutique hotel secured a £160,000 loan from the Investment Fund for Northern Ireland to expand and build on their success.

A small hospitality operator based in the Highlands has received funding through the Investment Fund for Scotland to expand following recent success.

Lemon Tree Soft Play Café took out a Start up Loan and is a growing business founded by three mothers and entrepreneurs, creating a haven for children and families in Newcastle upon Tyne.

Owner of the Thomas Paine Hotel in Norfolk, Gez Chetal used the Recovery Loan Scheme to not only help his business, but to assist ex-offenders to gain employment in the hospitality industry.

Rahma Ahmed Ali and Nura Nur secured a loan of £10,000 in July 2021 through delivery partner Financing Sharia Enterprise to start alternative dairy brand Tribal Milk.

Kayleigh Cooper took out a £15,000 Start Up Loan in December 2020 to launch POP Pressed – an organic and plant-based cold-pressed juice brand.

Max Paley took out a loan of £15,000 in 2021 to launch This Charming Naan, a Smiths-inspired Indian Street Food business in Manchester.

Brighton sisters, Amy and Ruth Anslow, founded their independent supermarket, hiSbe, with the help of Start Up Loans.

Learn how Black Cowboy Coffee and Waffles used funding from a British Business Bank programme. Read more about how the funding helped them.

Mike Turner and his partner Krisi started their Brighton-based tea mixology company, Bird & Blend Tea Co., with the help of a Start Up Loan.

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 north Wales, they were keen to start something more local to save them from a long commute.

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.

Tony Singh was unemployed before starting his own business, Caffe Venecia, in the centre of Huddersfield in November 2013.

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 innovative range of Home Baking Kits and Mug Brownies.

Learn how The Nests Little Smallholding used funding from a British Business Bank programme. Read more about how the funding helped them.

Learn how Brew Cavern used funding from a British Business Bank programme. Read more about how the funding helped them.

Learn how Solo Coffee used funding from a British Business Bank programme. Read more about how the funding helped them.