Partner Article

Giving start-ups a better deal

It’s corporate social responsibility focus week on Bdaily. Here, Virgin Money provide insight into Start-up Loans, a project they support.

Like all Virgin companies, Virgin Money was launched to give customers a better deal. But as well as offering good value, straightforward products and delivering a fair profit, the bank also wants to make a positive impact in the communities in which it operates.

Virgin Money has its operational headquarters in Gosforth, Newcastle and carries out a variety of activities aimed at being a good corporate citizen. For example, our online fundraising platform – Virgin Money Giving – has allowed fundraisers to raised more than £200m since it was launched in 2009, including Gift Aid, and due to its not-for-profit status, an extra £6 million has been delivered to charities compared to its main competitor.

But monetary support for good causes is only a small part of how Virgin Money aims to make everyone better off. As one of the consortium partners responsible for delivering Start-Up Loans (SUL) in the North East and Cumbria, Virgin Money uses the skills of its workforce to give tailor-made one-to-one mentoring support to new businesses across the region.

Dan Ellis, who is due to open Jam Jar Cinema in Whitley Bay in September 2013 received a Start-Up Loan and said: “Whilst the finance from Start-Up Loans has been essential, the additional aspects of the initiative such as mentoring, guidance and networking opportunities are equally important.

“Without support from the SUL scheme we wouldn’t be preparing to open the doors in September.”

The consortium also includes the Virgin Group’s not-for-profit foundation Virgin Unite, The Northern Rock Foundation and Project North East (PNE) – with PNE being the consortium partner responsible for arranging and making the loans.

The scheme continues to open doors for entrepreneurs aged 18 to 30 who have a great business idea.

Loans range from £500 to £25,000, with new ‘Lean Start-Up Loans’, of up to £1,000 ,aimed at those who would like to carry out market research before launching, or need a bit of a push to begin trading.

With funding still to be awarded in the North East and Cumbria during 2013, successful applicants can benefit not only from Virgin Money’s mentoring support, but also Project North East’s many years’ working specifically with young business people.

Pete Wood is Virgin Money’s Head of Social Enterprise Projects, one of which is Start-Up Loans. He said: “As a direct result of this scheme, there are 80 new businesses operating in the North East and Cumbria, ranging from theatre and film companies to food and drink, health and fitness to hair and beauty and many more.

“As well as our mentoring support, a number of these new start-up companies have been given unique opportunities to meet and learn from one of the world’s best-known entrepreneurs, Virgin founder Sir Richard Branson, both in person and virtually via Google+ Hangouts. We are always looking at innovative new ways to help support these businesses further.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Virgin Money .