£80m in loans to finance young start-ups

The Prime Minister said he hopes the initiative could lead to 30,000 more start-ups and unleash a “new wave” of enterprise to support much-needed economic growth.

Announcing an £82.5m StartUp Loan scheme for 18 to 24-year-olds, Mr Cameron said he wanted young people to have the confidence and support to turn “that spark of an idea into the next global brand”.

An enterprise review by former Conservative minister Lord Young of Graffham says Britain would have 900,000 more businesses if it had the same rate of entrepreneurship as the United States.

The StartUp Loans are expected to be worth typically around £2,500, to be repaid within five years at most.