Bank for small businesses set for take off

A NEW lending bank for high-growth SMEs launching in Manchester in summer has gained its banking licence and appointed a number of business leaders to its non-executive board.

Ratan Engineer becomes the new independent chairman of OakNorth, while Baron Turner of Ecchinswell is senior independent director andRobert Burgess becomes non-executive director.

The new bank will provide short-term working capital loans and term loans to SMEs and savings accounts to retail customers.

OakNorth’s founders, Rishi Khosla and Joel Perlman are chief executive and chief strategy officer, respectively.

OakNorth, a new lending bank for high-growth small and medium sized companies, has gained a banking licence and appointed a number of business leaders to its Non-Executive Board as it seeks to shake up lending to growth SMEs.

Khosla said: “These appointments give us an exceptionally strong and well-balanced leadership team that will foster the growth and resilience of the business. OakNorth will be a positive force in SME banking, blending new technology to deliver a better customer experience with a capability to accept a wider range of collateral for loans.”