Shawbrook Bank lends £96m in region as £1bn milestone passed

SHAWBROOK Bank, the small business lender, has passed the £1bn milestone for the first time since its launch in 2011.

The institution said it had lent £96.6m to businesses and individuals in the North West.

Of the £1bn on its loan book, Shawbrook has lent over £766m to SMEs and almost £369m to individuals across the UK, ranging from commercial mortgages and asset finance for SMEs and property investors; secured loans for individual customers and by funding consumer finance via home improvement suppliers, leisure firms and retailers offering finance packages to their customers.

Loans are funded with deposits from UK savers, who receive competitive rates. The bank has more than 28,000 loan customers and more than 29,000 savings customers.

Ian Henderson, chief executive of Shawbrook Bank, said: “While the high street banks continue their long struggle to address deep-rooted issues, we’ve been able to enter the market and appeal to increasing numbers of customers who are looking for something different – a bank that wants to lend, rather than claims to lend.”

Shawbrook uses a traditional savings and lending model, and does not operate a branch network. Instead, the majority of the bank’s lending is made through a network of professional intermediaries.

North West customers include Cheshire pub owners Karl D’annunzio-Bruns and his wife Joy, who tuned to Shawbrook after their existing funder withdrew from lending to pubs.

The pair acquired and exanded The Blue Bell Inn in Smallwood, when funding was suddenly pulled.

Mr D’annunzio-Bruns said: “We paid for the extension ourselves, which was fine as we were confident that the deal with the bank would still stand. Once work was complete, however, it was a different story. The high street bank had pulled out of the pub sector while we had been working on the extension so the funds weren’t there anymore.

“It was a nail biting time for us We needed to refinance to continue with expanding the business and couldn’t really see many options.”

The couple was put in contact with Shawbrook by commercial mortgage broker Michael Rashman from Bridgewater Acceptances, and a loan was agreed.
 

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