Agreements for Start Up Loans' Business Support Partners

The Start-Up Loans Company (SUL) is part of the British Business Bank (the Bank), which is a government-owned economic development bank that makes finance markets for smaller businesses work more effectively. The Bank’s mission is to drive economic growth by helping smaller businesses get the finance they need to start, scale and stay in the UK. In doing so, the Bank helps capture the economic value of innovation for the UK and create jobs and prosperity for people across the country. The Bank designs, delivers, and manages a range of products through over 200 Delivery Partners, helping to increase both the supply and diversity of finance available to smaller businesses. Through our Banking business, the Bank increases the availability of debt finance for businesses right across the UK so promising businesses are much more likely to get the loan they need to start and grow. We do this by providing start up loans for entrepreneurs so people with great ideas have a better chance of getting started, no matter what their background is or where they are in the country. Alongside this, our Government-backed guarantees support banks and other finance providers to lend more to businesses who need debt finance to grow.

The Start-Up Loans Company (SUL, the Contracting Authority) is a wholly owned subsidiary of British Business Finance Ltd, which is in turn wholly owned by the Bank. SUL delivers the government’s Start Up Loans Scheme, which provides personal fixed-interest loans and support to aspiring and early-stage business owners from across the UK who might be struggling to access finance from other sources. The Scheme supports employment, enables economic growth, and has a transformational impact on the lives of thousands of people. SUL’s mission is to help new and early-stage UK businesses access affordable finance and mentoring support. More than 130,000 Start Up Loans have been delivered since 2012, delivering over £1.4Bn of funding to Start Up Loans borrowers.

The Start Up Loans scheme utilises the services of Business Support Partners who play a key role in supporting entrepreneurs, that are looking to start or grow a business, through pre-application and application-stage activities, helping prospective applicants access the support they need throughout the Start Up Loans journey. Business Support Partners are credit brokers for the Start Up Loans Scheme. The current suite of National, Regional and Specialist Business Support Partner (BSP) contracts will end in March 2027: this procurement is to secure replacement Business Support Partner Services from 1 April 2027.

The scheme operating model will remain broadly as is:

•Twelve (12) Regional Business Support Partners will provide pre-loan support to specific regions of the UK, including to the devolved Nations (Lots 1-12).

•Up to four (4) National Business Support Partners will provide pre-loan support nationally, including to the devolved Nations (Lot 13).

•Two (2) Specialist Business Support Partners will provide pre-loan support nationally, including to the devolved Nations, explicitly focussing on ex-military personnel and their families, and young people, respectively (Lot 14, 15).

The estimated Total Value for all of these Contracts is as follows:

£85,800,000 (Excluding VAT)

£102,960,000 (including VAT)

This is lower than the calculated Total Value (estimated) figure below as that figure sums up all of the individual Lot Values and over-inflates the actual estimated Total Value (stated above). This is because either none or only some of the individual contracts let under this procurement will become reflective of the individual total Lot Value over the course of each individual contract. The overall Start Up Loans scheme will be managed within the estimated Total Value set out above, subject to no permitted modifications being necessary.

The following is repeated from each individual Lot description.

Individual Lot Values are the estimated maximum total contract value that the Contracting Authority expects to pay under each Business Support Partner agreement (or all Business Support Partner agreements in respect of Lot 13). The Lot Value of each Lot takes account of the following, which may not be needed or applied under each contract over its duration: estimated volumes for years 4, 5, and 6, should the contracts be extended; reallocation (increases) in volume in any year of the agreement; one or more increases in the Administration Charge to take account of CPI or other potential increases during the term of each contract. Each Lot Value is, therefore, not a commitment to any additional volumes, any extension(s) or any increases in the Administration Charge during the term of each Contract.

Separately, there is a risk that, at the point of any actual contract extension from year 4 onwards, the overall volume of the Start Up Loans scheme increases significantly above the currently estimated volumes from year 4 onwards, leading to a significant increase in the Value of each contract. The Contracting Authority may modify the Contracts in reliance on paragraph 5 of Schedule 8 of the Procurement Act 2023.

If the services are required beyond the expiry of the contacts, the Contracting Authority expects to publish a tender notice for replacement contracts on or around September 2032.

Prior to releasing the procurement documents, potential Tenderers are required to register on the delta e-sourcing platform and complete and submit a Confidentiality Agreement by following the links below.