Following months of hardwork and campaigning, Budget 2012 arrived on March 21, 2012 and the Government introduced the Youth Enterprise Loan – a Pioneer-led idea to provide startups with better access to finance
Young entrepreneurs get financial support in multi-million pound Budget initiativeThe National Youth Enterprise Working Group has welcomed the creation of a £10 million nationwide pilot programme to provide greater financial support for the start-up businesses of young entrepreneurs. In the 2012 Budget today, Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne announced the start of a Youth Enterprise Loan Scheme which will support entrepreneurship amongst young people through small, low interest, loans. Speaking in the House of Commons this lunchtime, he said: “We are also exploring enterprise loans. Young people get a loan to go to University or College. Now we want to help them get a loan to start their own business.” Young entrepreneurs – represented by organisations in the National Youth Enterprise Working Group – have been making a series of recommendations to Government on how to help the UK economy recover and prosper through encouraging enterprise. One idea was the Youth Investment Fund, which was put forward by Virgin Media Pioneers in November 2011. Since then, Virgin Media have worked closely with Government to develop the proposal alongside our partners on the National Youth Enterprise Working Group. This is now being developed at the Youth Enterprise Loan scheme. The scheme will create a fund through which small scale loans and support can be offered to early-stage companies on comparable terms to student financing, challenging the convention that a young person could easily get a loan to study business, but not on equal terms to start one. Mark Prisk MP, Minister of State for Business and Enterprise, said: “This Government thinks that everyone should have a chance to turn their idea for a business into reality. That’s why in the Budget this year we announced we are setting up a Youth Enterprise Loan scheme. We are already working with some great organisations in the National Youth Enterprise Working Group to make sure that their experience and expertise is built into our work.” Sir Richard Branson, founder of the Virgin Group, said: “This has the potential to transform the prospects of thousands of young people. The entrepreneurs of today will be the job creators of tomorrow so I’m delighted that the Government has listened to those at the very start of their careers. The country is full of gifted and enterprising people so this pilot, which crucially has business mentoring and support at its heart, will help prevent a lost generation of talent.” Simon Walker, Director General of the Institute of Directors, said: “I am delighted that the Government have announced a pilot of the Youth Enterprise Loan scheme. Over the last few months we’ve been part of the working group helping to deliver this, and I feel sure it will encourage many young entrepreneurs to establish new businesses. This scheme will provide young business-people with a fantastic launch pad, combining an initial cash injection with the know-how and advice to put the funding to good use. There are large numbers of young people out there with great business ideas, and we look forward to helping them turn their ambitions into reality.” Josie Emberton, Head of Live UnLtd, said: “We believe that young people themselves can offer the solutions to many of the issues faced by the UK today and we welcome initiatives like the Youth Enterprise Loan scheme as an additional resource for young people seeking to start-up their venture.” About the National Youth Enterprise Working Group Members of NYEWG are: the Institute of Directors, Peter Jones Enterprise Academy, Shell LiveWIRE, The National Association of College and University Entrepreneurs (NACUE), The Prince’s Trust, Unltd, Virgin Media Pioneers, Youth Business International, Young Enterprise, and IBM.
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