Can co-founders both get a Start Up Loan? Yes, and each loan stays with the founder who took it

Yes, where the business needs it. There is no joint application. Each founder applies separately and signs their own loan agreement.

Each application is also assessed on its own. You each have your own credit check, and your partner's credit history does not go on your application. You each need your own personal survival budget too, because affordability is judged person by person.

Some things you do share. You can use the same business plan and cash flow forecast. And all the founders in one business apply through the same Business Support Partner, so if you apply with bizbritain, your co-founder applies with us too.

There is one ownership rule to know before you start. Everyone who applies must own part of the business. Between them, the founders who apply must hold at least 50% of it.

Plenty of founding teams use the scheme. According to figures the British Business Bank published on 20 October, the scheme has made 140,000 loans to date, worth more than £1.4bn in total.

Several of the 14 businesses named as 2026 Start Up Loans Ambassadors on the same day were started by two founders, including a Belfast banjo maker and a Dorset fish cannery.

The scheme looks at each of you as an individual borrower. It will not settle how the two of you run the business together. That is for you to agree, ideally in writing, before either of you applies.

Three things are worth settling first:

None of this needs to be complicated. But it is much easier to agree while you are both excited about the business than after one of you wants out.

So what does that mean in practice? If your co-founder leaves, they keep repaying their own loan. If you leave, you keep repaying yours. The same is true if the business stops trading.

This is why the leaver question in your agreement matters so much. If you walk away, you still owe the money. You will want a fair price for your share of the business to help you pay it back.

It also matters for the founder who stays. Their own loan is unchanged, but they may need to buy the leaver's share. Plan for that in the agreement rather than finding the money later.

Start with the eligibility check. It takes 60 seconds and involves no credit search, so you can each do it first. The formal application is different. It includes a credit check, which is a hard search.

Next, prepare the documents. You need a business plan, a cash flow forecast and a personal survival budget each. You can share the plan and the forecast. myplan builds all three by asking plain questions. The workbook takes around 30 minutes rather than days or weeks, and it is free for every bizbritain applicant.

Then each of you submits your own application. Your bizbritain Business Advisor reviews each one in full and assesses it against the scheme's eligibility, affordability and viability requirements. Approved applications go to our finance partner, which runs its final checks, issues the loan agreement and provides the funds.

How long does it take? Most applicants are approved within one to two weeks of submitting a finished application. myplan shortens the preparation. Timing can still depend on any further information we ask for and on our finance partner's final checks.

If you are ready to start, read more about applying for a Start Up Loan with bizbritain.