OakNorth Bank
OakNorth Bank offers fast, flexible debt financing, ranging from £250,000 to tens of millions, to high-growth businesses across the UK, including property developers, care homes, specialist schools and nurseries, hotels, bars and restaurants, pub operators, as well as fund and specialist finance providers. With a range of specialist secured and unsecured business loans, OakNorth caters to the growth plans of businesses, without asking them to give up equity.
Despite experiencing not one, but two unprecedented events – Brexit and COVID-19 – since its launch, the bank has continued supporting growth businesses across the UK. Its lent c.£10 billion to date, directly helping with the creation of almost tens of thousands of new jobs and new homes (the significant majority of which are affordable and social housing).
OakNorth has an experienced and talented team covering Yorkshire and the North East, who have worked across a range of transactions. These include a £2.1M loan to Europa Wools, the West Yorkshire-based trader and processor of natural wool, to support a management buy-out, a £25.4M loan to Scarborough Group International, one of the UK’s most active privately owned developers to support the development of a new 133,118 sq. ft office building at Thorpe Park, Leeds and a £7.5M loan Springfield Healthcare, for the development of a major new luxury care home in Beverley, East Yorkshire.
With the past being a hugely difficult period for both lenders and borrowers alike, OakNorth Bank continues to see lenders retrench from the market and concentrate its efforts on prioritising its existing loan book, over supporting new businesses and growing…
At OakNorth, its been able to do both, with its Yorkshire-based lending team playing a key role in its achievements to date. It has carved a niche for itself and continues to lend with confidence through cycle and in times of economic turmoil.
By behaving as reliable, long-term partners to our customers throughout the pandemic, rather than just bankers, it has been able to make them our best advocates. As a result, c.80% of its new lending comes via referrals, and 40% of its borrowers are repeat customers.
OakNorth differentiates itself from other lenders via four unique selling points:
- Speed – it offers a quick ‘yes’ or ‘no’ decision so that it doesn’t waste business’ time. It will always try to find a path to ‘yes’ and will never take a computer-says-no decision.
- Flexibility – it will take time to get to know a business and structure a bespoke facility for its unique needs. No off-he-shelf solutions or ready-made products – it looks at each deal with a fresh pair of eyes.
- Transparency – every business it considers lending to is given the opportunity to meet its Credit Committee and discuss its borrowing needs directly with the decision-makers.
- An entrepreneurial approach – it was founded by entrepreneurs, not bankers, so it has a unique understanding of the opportunities and pain points facing businesses, and speak the same language as them.
