Success Stories

Learn how other UK businesses have used external finance to reach their ambition

Here’s just some of the tens of thousands of smaller businesses funded through our partners, with the support of British Business Bank’s programmes.

Have you received finance from one of our partners using one of our programmes? Do you want to have a chance of being featured as a success story on our website? Please email our Communications team to register your interest.

Growth Guarantee Scheme

Câr-y-Môr

Câr-y-Môr is the first community-owned regenerative ocean farm in Wales. With a diverse membership of over 300 individuals from various backgrounds, Câr-y-Môr has become a shining example of community-driven sustainability and innovation.

Read the success story about Câr-y-Môr
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Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund II

MicroLub

MircoLub, a University of Leeds spinout, has raised £3.5m of seed funding in a round combining capital from NPIF II – Praetura Equity Finance

Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund II

Black Milk

Popular Manchester café, Black Milk, secured a loan from the Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund II (NPIF II).

Investment Fund for Northern Ireland

The Bucks Head

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.

Investment Fund for Northern Ireland

Harrison Chambers of Distinction

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.

Investment Fund for Scotland

Highland Hilly Huts

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

Start Up Loans

Lemon Tree Softplay Café

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.

Recovery Loan Scheme

Thomas Paine Hotel

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.

Start Up Loans

Tribal Milk

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.

Start Up Loans

Pop Pressed

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.

Start Up Loans

This Charming Naan

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.

Bounce Back Loan Scheme (BBLS)

Spread Eagle Inn

Having taken on the business in 2018, the owners of this coaching inn, bar and restaurant were finally ready to see a profit for their endeavour. But when COVID-19 caused them to close, all their income disappeared and they were forced to make staff redundant.

Bounce Back Loan Scheme (BBLS)

Greenhill Hotel

Like most hospitality businesses, the Greenhill Hotel was instructed to close its doors to visitors, to help stop the spread of COVID-19. With no date for when it would be able to reopen, and unable to qualify for any government grants, the business found the Bounce Back Loan Scheme (BBLS) to be its best option for financial support.

Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme (CBILS)

Red Oak Taverns

Despite being consistently profitable, Red Oak Taverns saw its income streams severely curtailed once the Government’s shutdown of hospitality businesses began.

Start Up Loans

hiSbe

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

Start Up Loans

Black Cowboy Coffee and Waffles

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

Start Up Loans

Bird & Blend Tea Co.

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.

Start Up Loans

Health & Food

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.

Start Up Loans

Berry’s Bakery

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.