{"id":2109804,"date":"2026-03-23T16:45:23","date_gmt":"2026-03-23T16:45:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thebusinessdesk.com\/westmidlands\/?p=2109804"},"modified":"2026-03-23T16:45:23","modified_gmt":"2026-03-23T16:45:23","slug":"700m-lending-surge-drives-growth-at-specialist-bank","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thebusinessdesk.com\/westmidlands\/news\/2109804-700m-lending-surge-drives-growth-at-specialist-bank","title":{"rendered":"\u00a3700m lending surge drives growth at specialist bank"},"content":{"rendered":"

Secure Trust Bank (STB) recorded more than \u00a3700m in new lending during 2025 across its real estate and commercial finance divisions, according to its latest annual results.<\/p>\n

Real estate finance balances increased by 9.4%, while commercial finance grew by 3.2%. New business in commercial finance rose significantly, more than doubling from \u00a3105.8m in 2024 to \u00a3287.5m in 2025, contributing to a 23% increase in the bank\u2019s business finance lending book over the past three years.<\/p>\n

The results come amid continued pressure on businesses, including higher construction costs in the property sector and wider inflationary and fiscal challenges affecting commercial activity.<\/p>\n

Luke Jooste, managing director of business finance at STB said: “2025 was a landmark year for our business finance divisions. Despite real headwinds, rising costs, inflationary pressure and shifting fiscal policy, demand for our products grew strongly, and we more than doubled new business in commercial finance alone. That doesn’t happen by accident. It reflects the work we’ve done to broaden our offering and build relationships with clients who need a lender that can move with them through uncertain conditions. We’re entering 2026 with real momentum.”<\/p>\n

During the year, Solihull-based STB continued to expand its lending offer, including plans to introduce bridging finance within its real estate division and additional speciality finance products within commercial finance.<\/p>\n

Across both divisions, the bank reported \u00a356.7m in operating income and \u00a326.5m in adjusted profit before tax, with risk-adjusted margins of 1.8% for real estate finance and 5.2% for commercial finance.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

New business more than doubled in commercial finance during 2025, helping push lending to record levels despite ongoing economic pressures<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":266702,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[53262],"coauthors":[127717],"class_list":["post-2109804","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-business-news","tag-featured-story","tag-greater-birmingham"],"yoast_head":"\n\u00a3700m lending surge drives growth at specialist bank | TheBusinessDesk.com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"New business more than doubled in commercial finance during 2025, helping push lending to record levels despite ongoing economic pressures\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" 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