NEA Loan Guidance

Participants on the New Enterprise Allowance programme can apply for a personal loan of up to £1000 once they have had their business plan approved. At this stage we send the business plan to the loan company, who then contact the participant directly to progress the application.

The loan company need to see a two-year cashflow forecast, profit and loss and personal expenditure in the business plan - you can read more about this here. They also want to see the loan repayments included in the participant's financial elements of the plan.

Key Facts

Loans are unsecured up to the value of £1000 and issued at 10% APR. There are flexible terms up to three years with one year interest only if required. You can access example loan repayment schedules here.

Participants are eligible for one loan but this can be made available in more than one tranche e.g they can apply for £1000 and receive £500 upfront and £500 later.

There are no set-up fees or early repayment fees and the participant can apply for the loan at any point during their first six months of trading.

The loan company base their decision on the strength of the business plan but they also run a credit search. Participants with bad debt will be considered but only if they have a repayment plan in place.

The loan is not guaranteed so if the participant is relying on this investment to start their business then they need to consider alternative sources of finance as early as possible.

For more information on this or any other aspect of the MYMentor programme, please contact Melissa Healy on 01924 786500 or email melissa.healy@mycci.co.uk