Start-up loans rapped for pitches to students An expansion of the programme to allow individuals older than 30 to apply is expected to be announced tomorrow. Start-Up Loans typically offers unsecured loans of around £2,500, charged at a 6pc interest rate. It has so far provided almost 3,000 budding entrepreneurs from a range of backgrounds with £13m in start-up funds. Mr Jarman met Tim Sawyer, chief executive of Start-Up Loans, and the delivery partners to discuss the concerns last week ahead of a planned meeting with the Business Department. "Hopefully we're going in the right direction," Mr Jarman said. It is understood that the Start-Up Loans Company feels it has addressed the issue and is implementing tighter oversight on delivery partners. Mr Sawyer said the assertions in Mr Jarman's email were "either incorrect or out of date." While no programme is ever perfect, Start-Up Loans is delivering support to a large number of young people allowing them to be successful in their own right. The programme has over delivered and is rightly seen as a significant success. He pointed out that "students are only around 8pc of our lending compared to say 45pc [who were] unemployed" and that satisfaction with the scheme among loan recipients stands at almost 85pc. However, Matt Smith, who used to work at one of the delivery partners, claimed "multiple" problems with the initiative remain. Mr Smith, now director of consultancy firm Entelligence, said: "More than one of the delivery partners has been described as 'predatory" in its marketing and lending." Mr Smith called for the number of delivery partners to be reduced, geographic restrictions to be placed on them and for incentives to be provided to organisations that provide good quality "ongoing" advice to young people. James Caan, who says he is running the scheme on a "pro bono" basis, has said Start-Up Loans will help start 25,000 businesses by 2015.