Skip to content
Date updated: 10/11/2023

Samuel Wilson’s Loan Trust (SWLT) is a charitable organisation which offers business loans to young people (aged 18-39) for establishing and developing new businesses, and who are "in need by reason of ill-health, disability, financial hardship or other disadvantage."

Who can apply?

To qualify for a loan individuals must

  • be between the age of 18 and 39 inclusive
  • have recently set up (no longer than 36 months) or be about to set up a business
  • trade in Greater London, Buckinghamshire, Essex, Hertfordshire, Kent, Surrey, East Sussex or West Sussex.

Please note that the Trust does not loan to any business whose primary trade is the manufacture or sale of alcohol.

If you are unsure whether you are eligible, contact us via SWLT enquiries.

Loan terms

  • up to £50,000 for limited companies or between £25,000-£50,000 for sole traders
  • 2% interest rate (subject to change)
  • repayment within five years (60 months)

The precise interest rate, amount and period of the loan will be considered on an individual basis, determined at the discretion of the Trustees.

A guarantor may be required.

How to apply

You will need to submit a robust business plan with a detailed and realistic financial forecast as a part of your application.

Contact us via SWLT enquiries to receive the application form and the templates to use for your business plan and financial forecasts. You will be required to submit supporting documents as listed on the application form.

What happens next?

When you have submitted your application, we will check that your documents are correct and you will receive support from a Business Adviser to help you prepare your application for review by the Trustees.

Please note that the process could take two to four months depending on the strength of your application. The next application review panel will be in January 2024.

Who was Samuel Wilson?

Samuel Wilson was born in 1692 into a Quaker family and became an apprentice to his father who was a cooper (coopers primarily made barrels for wine). He joined the Worshipful Company of Coopers and gained the Freedom of the City. He eventually became a wine merchant and moved to Hatton Garden. When he died in 1769 he gave the City of London Corporation £20,000 in trust to set up the charity.