Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what steps he is taking to improve access to finance for start-up businesses in Fylde.

We will publish our Small Business Strategy later this year with a clear ambition to promote start-ups and encourage entrepreneurship, built around the new Business Growth Service.

Start Up Loans are available across the UK, helping new and early-stage businesses access affordable finance. 209 such loans have been issued to Fylde businesses, worth an aggregate of over £2.1 million.[1]

Existing support offers include Help to Grow: Management - UK, providing practical ways to enhance small business productivity and growth, and the British Business Bank’s Northern Powerhouse Investment Fund II provides debt and equity finance for businesses across the North.

[1] Start Up Loans Scheme – lending 2012 to 31/01/2025 | Start Up Loans (to 31 January 2025)