Over 65,000 businesses have been set up with backing from the New Enterprise Allowance.
The Government scheme has helped budding entrepreneurs move off benefits to become their own boss, setting up businesses at a rate of nearly 2,000 a month.
The New Enterprise Allowance (NEA), which launched in 2011, provides financial support and mentors for people on benefits that have a good business idea. The support is available to jobseekers, lone parents and people on sickness benefits who want to become their own boss.
The latest figures from the scheme show that nearly 5,000 businesses have been set up by young people; over 12,000 have been established by disabled people; and more than 15,000 new enterprises have been created by the over-50s. Many of them have successfully turned their hobbies, including cookery, gardening and outdoor pursuits, into going concerns.
Esther McVey, minister for employment, said: “It’s been my priority to make sure that anyone, from any background, can turn their business dream into reality – by making sure they get the right advice and support at the right time.
“We have been able to help thousands of businesses get off the ground – including designers, personal trainers and counsellors – and these entrepreneurs may even go on to become the employers of the future.”
The NEA has helped people set up in business across Britain – with the most businesses being set up in Liverpool, Birmingham and Sheffield.
Family businesses have also been given a boost as changes from the start of 2015 have meant that anyone who is the partner of someone claiming Jobseeker’s Allowance can also be supported through NEA.