Our story

Since our launch, we've lent £11bn to ambitious entrepreneurs up and down the UK. That's led to the creation of over 40,000 new jobs and over 29,000 new homes – and we're not about to stop there. We're dedicated to helping trailblazing businesses thrive and determined savers reach their financial goals.

Delivering success, at pace

We’re OakNorth, and we help entrepreneurs scale quickly, realise their ambitions and make data-driven decisions.

And for those who want to make their money go further, while helping businesses thrive? Our savings accounts support the high street and create new jobs, while earning our customers competitive interest.

Woman with bright blue shirt smiling widely

We're here to shake up banking

OakNorth was built on the foundations of frustrations. In 2005, when our founders tried to get business finance for their data analytics company, the computer said ‘no’. Unfortunately, all major banks in the UK were using the same computer – and it was broken.

Why was it so difficult for a profitable business with healthy cash flow, retained clients and commercial success to get a loan? The industry was too focused on financials from the past, rather than potential in the future.

So, what if there was a bank, founded by entrepreneurs, for entrepreneurs? And what if that bank allowed savers to invest their money into businesses that create jobs in their communities?

Say hello to OakNorth.

Why we're different

Entrepreneurial spirit

We know what it takes to run a business. We know time-wasting is frustrating. We’re serving overlooked and underserved businesses because we were once one too.

Savings that support local businesses

Saving with OakNorth means supporting the UK’s most ambitious businesses. When you help fund their growth, you help create new jobs, build new homes and strengthen the economy.

Tech enabled, people driven

Tech takes us places; people make those places worth going to. We help businesses and savers achieve their financial goals.

What we’ve achieved so far

We've lent over £11bn since inception

We've raised deposits from over 254,000 savers

We're one of the only profitable digital banks

We've helped to create over 47,000 new jobs

We've helped to create over 29,000 new homes

Our values

One team

We work together to achieve our goals, whether it’s across teams, countries, departments or people in a room.

Right ambition

Success is better shared. We channel the right ambition as individuals to meet our collective goals.

Customer delight

Our customers drive everything we do. We go beyond satisfaction to deliver delight at every opportunity.

10X

Better is good, ten times better is great. We set ambitious goals and work to deliver outsized results.

Momentum

We’re go-getters so we take decisive action, at pace. It helps us turn dreams into accomplishments.

Zero base

If it isn’t working, we start from scratch to produce the best solutions for customers and colleagues.

Say it how it is

We’re open and transparent with our stakeholders and encourage honest and constructive input from our team.

Our founders

We’re founded by entrepreneurs, Rishi Khosla and Joel Perlman. They studied together and went on to start, scale, and sell a successful data analytics company called Copal Amba. While growing Copal, they were looking for capital, but UK banks weren’t willing to lend to them, despite their profitability and commercial success.

Today, our founders are still front and centre. They help drive the vision of the bank and serve as a reminder of why we do what we do and their entrepreneurial spirit makes us unlike any other bank in the UK.

With a strong focus on learning, we adapt and embrace progress through mentoring and constant knowledge sharing – it’s something Rishi and Joel found invaluable during their time at LSE. To give back to the bright minds of the future in the same way, OakNorth has partnered with LSE Generate to create our Mentorpreneurship programme that connects students from across the UK with professional and conscientious mentors.

Our products

We’re helping businesses across all different industries thrive by funding their growth needs. And our savings customers can reach their long-term financial goals with competitive interest rates across a range of different savings accounts.

Business finance

Support your growth with fast, flexible finance ranging from £1million to tens of millions.

Business Banking

Scale at speed with our business current account, savings vault and more.

Personal savings

Make future plans a reality with personalised savings accounts that work for you.

Want to join us?

We’re always looking for ambitious and open-minded colleagues that aren’t afraid to challenge the status quo. Our founders broke the mould of commercial banking – and we can do the same, by staying curious and questioning everything.

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