Clearview National March 2015 - Issue 160 | Page 84

businessnews

Start Up Loans
Support New
Businesses
The government’s Start Up Loan*
scheme has hit another milestone
as the 25,000th business loan is
approved, taking the total amount
lent to new firms to nearly £130m.
»»The scheme provides financial
support and mentoring to entrepreneurs
looking to set up their own business.
According to the Start Up Loan Company,
more than 32,000 new jobs have been
generated as a result of the scheme since it was
launched in 2012.
Prime Minister David Cameron said:
“Small businesses are the lifeblood of our
economy and supporting them to get off the
ground and create jobs and opportunities for

hardworking people is a key part of our longterm economic plan.”
James Caan CBE, chairman of the Start Up
Loans Company, said:
“The creation of 25,000 new businesses is a
significant achievement and everyone involved
– the government, the Start Up Loans
Company, and the loan recipients themselves,
should be immensely proud.”
*The Start Up Loans scheme is a £310
million government-funded initiative

that provides start-up support in the
form of a repayable loan together with a
business mentor for entrepreneurs across
England, Wales, Scotland and Northern
Ireland. Funding is provided by the
Department for Business, Innovation and
Skills and administered by the 100 percent
government-owned British Business Bank
which makes finance markets for smaller
businesses work better, enabling the sector
to grow.

An Economic Overview 2015
With the general elections looming, a cooling housing market
and problems with a weakening euro, the next 12 months
could prove to be tricky for the UK.
»»Economic growth through
2014 remained stagnation and as 2015 gets
under way, it looks as though the UK is
succumbing to the slowdown.
On the up side, the UK is still likely to
grow faster than most other parts of the
world during 2015, however with problems
within the eurozone; mainly accounted for
by struggling economies, the UK will not go
entirely untouched and the weaker euro will
definitely impact on Britain’s biggest export
market; forcing British exporters to hold prices
down or risk losing business.
Other factors include a general election
in May and huge doubt about the outcome,
making companies more cautious to consider
new investment and it is apparent, that the
housing market is cooling again, as valuations
become stretched, also, pointing to a less
buoyant year ahead.
The UK CPI inflation rate fell to 0.5%
in December 2014 according to the Office

84 » M AR 2015 » CL EARVI E W- UK . C O M

for National Statistics
(ONS). The drop in
inflation reflects falls in
global oil prices that have fed
through into lower fuel prices for
UK consumers, especially motorists, and
falling food prices that have resulted from a
supermarket price war. Resulting from these
external factors rather than weakness UK
economic activity, this fall in inflation will
boost the UK economy as consumers have
more money available for discretionary
spending on goods and leisure.
The profitability of UK non-financial
corporation’s has improved markedly
according to the latest ONS estimates.
The net rate of return for UK companies was
12% in the third quarter of 2014, the highest
recorded since 2006. This improvement was in
spite of a sharp decline in returns for the UK
offshore oil and gas sector, which has seen by
far the worst levels of profitability since the

survey
began in 1997.
By contrast
profitability in the service sector
reached a survey high level of 16.8%,
while a 10.9% net rate of return in the
manufacturing sector was the highest since the
beginning of 2002.
Source: ARCADIS International
Construction Costs Rep ort