The Start-Up Loans Company, chaired by former BBC Dragon James Caan that helps thousands of young people start a business has been given the green light to open their doors to budding entrepreneurs of all ages.

Once you have an established business, you need to start thinking about entering industry awards. Awards aren’t just about receive kudos for something remarkable your business has achieved. Here are my 7 reasons why a small business should enter awards.

The Start-Up Loan scheme has exceeded expectations as 2,000 aspirational young entrepreneurs have now received support to help get their business venture off the ground, in a boost to growth and the UK’s efforts to get ahead in the global race.

Over the past 10 years, young people have taken on debt in order to finance their futures through student loans and overdrafts leaving many to think all debt is bad. When it comes time to start their entrepreneurial journey, Startup Loans are a good way to raise capital but how do we address this stigma?

In these challenging times, with High Street icons like HMV closing, the country needs new and fresh business ideas. With HMV's closure cited as a result of its inability to respond to technological advances in the music industry, young entrepreneurs could be the ones filling the gap left behind by the music giant.

A £30 million boost to the Government’s Start-Up Loans scheme has been announced by the Prime Minister today to give the next generation of entrepreneurs the finance and support to start their own business, helping Britain to get ahead in the global race.

Rockstar Youth, the leading portal for aspiring young entrepreneurs is now offering 18-24 year olds the opportunity to start their own business or scale up their existing business. The Startup Loans Programme is a £82.5m government initiative led by Lord Young (Enterprise Advisor to David Cameron) and James Caan to stimulate young aspiring entrepreneurs to kick-start their enterprise.