A BURY entrepreneur has "bagged" a vital £10,000 loan to help propel her into the world of business.

And the money has enabled Jayshree Patel to strike out on her own in a bid to capitalise upon the UK’s insatiable appetite for luxury handbags.

Founder and director of online business, Lily Lyn, she has developed a premium range of affordable handbags after receiving the loan from BFS (Business Finance Solutions) Start Up Now, the North West arm of the Government’s national £150 million loans programme.

Before launching her business in March, Jayshree had worked in the family's catalytic converter and estate agency businesses in Bury and North Wales since she was 13.

She said: "My passion for handbags began when I was just five-years-old. And growing up in a family of entrepreneurs, I went on to spot an opportunity and a gap in the market for an affordable range of handbags that are made using the exact same premium quality materials used to manufacture the most expensive leather goods.

"We’ve had a great response to the range and are already in the process of developing a secondary range, which will be a selection of clutches to match the existing handbags.

“Getting the start up loan has really helped to move Lily Lyn along and we used the loan to invest in products and advertising. The £10,000 amounted to about 65 per cent of the total start-up costs. Being able to tap into the BFS team’s business development expertise has also been invaluable in helping me to plan for the growth of the business and to explore different sales opportunities and networks.”

Added Jayshree: "The bags are manufactured in China. I design them and gave the manufacturers the colours and the material I want to use. I had looked at manufacturing in this country. But I found it was very expensive and a lot of UK manufacturers would only manufacture for established companies."

She plans to extend her range to embrace a range of clutch and hand-painted bags. "Ultimately, I'd like to get into the retail sector and to have my bags sold in shops."

Paul Breen, director of Business Finance Solutions said: “Jayshree has identified a real demand in the market for quality products at affordable prices and we’ve been delighted to be able to provide the loan she needed to get her business up and running."

Jayshree's online business, http://lilylyn.co.uk, is based in Edenfield.