New competition for Start Up Loan recipients to win £5000

An exciting competition has been launched by our partners The Start Up Loans Company, to find Start Up Loans recipients with amazing and inspiring stories. 

One lucky winner will be awarded £5,000 as well other fantastic prizes and invited to an exclusive awards ceremony at the  Lord Mayor’s office in London.  

If you've received a Start Up Loan through us, all you need to do to enter is answer some questions about your business. It’s a national competition that will identify winners and semi-finalists in every region.  

We're the only deliver partner that specialises in supporting fashion fashion businesses and we know some of you are doing really well, so  we're really hoping lots of our  beneficiaries will apply

One of the regional winners will then be awarded Start Up of the Year (based on their application form and the video pitch submitted).  

Submit your story,  for a chance to be crowned Start Up of the Year 2014! 

Competition closes on 1^st September at 12pm

APPLY HERE

If you haven't applied for  a Start Up Loan yet, but need funding for your business and would like some FREE mentoring too,  go to our Fashion Angel Start Up Loan page for more details on how to apply

Opportunities for retail & tech entrepreneurs

There’s suddenly a lot happening to support retail/tech entrepreneurs, and we thought you’d like to know about five interesting initiatives we’ve come across:-

John Lewis has launched a new incubator hub with technology entrepreneur, Stuart Marks. JLab is seeking StartUps and SMEs  that have technology and/or ideas that could improve the John Lewis in-store or online shopping experience.

5 applicants will enter JLAB for 15 weeks, competing for investment and a chance to supply John Lewis. You are offered £12,500 investment for 4% of your company and receive mentoring, workspace and talks/workshops to help you develop the idea. At the end of the 15 weeks, one company will receive £100,000 investment.

Applications now open and close on 17 April: www.jlab.co.uk


House of Fraser is the latest store to open a dedicated pop up space for new brands . Pop at HOF is offering 10 businesses the opportunity to sell their products in its Oxford Street store. Brands will be offered space on the ground floor of the store for a minimum of 2 weeks and online for 12 months. Winners will also secure mentoring and support in topics from visual merchandising to logistics and branding.

Applications are open with a deadline date of 20th March. Winners will be announced on 2nd April with the PopUp commencing in May. Apply online at:  www.thegreatretailrevival.org

IDEA London is a partnership of Cisco, UCL and DC Thomson offering a workspace and accelerator for tech companies, including retail. Snap Fashion, founded by  26 year old, Jenny Griffiths is based there, and the support she has received is helping her reach a global audience, so you’d be in good company!

Apply online at: www.idea-london.co.uk

TrueStart is a new retail and consumer innovation hub for entrepreneurs in Victoria. They are looking for ‘motivated entrepreneurs with innovative product, service or business ideas that are targeted at disrupting any aspect of the retail and consumer landscape. This could be anything including a retail technology aimed at improving the retail supply chain, data analytics for retailers, e-commerce, a social shopping platform, advertising technology, or even a new brand or consumer product.’

Hub tenants receive office and retail space, access to mentors and investment and professional services. One of the first to be accepted on their accelerator programme is THEUNSEEN design consultancy that has pioneered the fusion of science and creativity to integrate biological, chemical and electronic elements into textiles. The programme is helping them create a unique brand and design house through its own distinctive luxury products, while also helping to develop a licensing business model that will unlock opportunities to partner with leading players in the consumer sector.

Applications now open at:  www.truestart.co.uk

Start Up Loans are a lifesaver if you need some seed funding to get your idea off the ground. A Start Up Loan offers low cost, flexible loan along with FREE business mentoring. To find our more go to our Start Up Loan page.

If you hear of any others please do let us know.

Fashion Angel helps young fashion entrepreneurs fly!

We are thrilled to announce that we are partnering with the government backed Start-Up Loans Company, to offer easy to access loans and business support to aspiring fashion industry entrepreneurs.

With London Fashion Week starting soon, highlighting the wealth of design talent and increasing number of fashion brands starting up new enterprises, we are delighted our popular mentoring and business support will now be available to new fashion businesses on the scheme, at the start of their business journey.

Involvement in this initiative continues our commitment to giving fashion brands the guidance and entrepreneurial skills they need to be successful.

Alison Lewy, Fashion Angel’s founder  welcomes this opportunity to support start up fashion businesses in this way

“We are so pleased that we can help fashion start-ups get funding and business mentoring to help make their dream business a reality. Traditional lenders are often unsympathetic to lending to creative businesses, so it’s exciting to be able to offer an alternative funding route. As the only delivery partners specialising in this area, we are looking forward to playing an integral part to the success of these young entrepreneurs.”

We have already started approving loans and have now developed a very
simple on-line application process . We're on hand to support applicants both during the application process and while they get their business off the ground.

Start-Up Loans Company chairman, James Caan says”

 “Having started my first business in the fashion industry, I’m delighted to see a fashion-specific Partner on board to help support creative entrepreneurs turn their passion into a business. I believe this surge we are seeing from young people starting their own businesses is simply the beginning of an emerging and lasting trend in entrepreneurship in Britain”
 “Start-Up Loans are unsecured which is exactly what young people with no track-record of business or collateral need to get their idea off the ground. “

Come and find out if a Start Up Loan is right for you at our FREE talk and networking event, Finance for Fashion Start Ups in London on 27th March 2013, where successful Start Up Loan Ambassadors and loan recipients  will be on hand to share their experiences. Places are strictly limited and you can book your place on-line on the Fashion Angel events page

To start your application or to find out more go to  Fashion Angel Start Up Loans