Read the latest industry news, find practical advice on how to grow your business and smart tips to save for the future, all here on the OakNorth blog.
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Mixed-use” can describe a £48m London development or a £6.5m high-street acquisition — deals with almost nothing in common. OakNorth’s Hemesh Patel on why the label tells you next to nothing about whether a deal is fundable, and what underwriters actually assess in 2026.
Digital banking has never been faster or more intuitive, but a seamless platform is now the baseline, not the differentiator. As businesses grow, their challenges become exceptions rather than patterns, and that’s exactly where automation reaches its limits. Ivan Maryasin, General Manager at OakNorth, makes the case for why human judgement and relationship banking are becoming the true mark of a great bank.
Only 9% of people are on track for a comfortable retirement, according to the 2026 Retirement Living Standards. We break retirement income into three layers — the State Pension, your pensions, and accessible cash savings — so you can see where your own gaps might be.
The phone rings, and the caller knows your name, says they’re from your bank, and warns that your savings are at risk. It sounds completely genuine — but is it? Here’s the one simple habit, and the quick checklist, that helps you spot a scam and keep your money safe.
Founders obsess over hiring, markets, and product — but rarely over scaling their banking. Yet as businesses grow, banking can quietly shift from enabler to bottleneck. Ivan Maryasin explores the “underserved middle” of the market and what banking should deliver as complexity mounts.
More than half of UK over-50s have never discussed their financial wishes with family — and a quarter never plan to. New OakNorth research with Opinium unpacks the worry, regret and silence behind the numbers.
Early years education more often than not doesn’t get the attention it deserves. Not from policymakers, not from lenders, and not from the media. And yet the numbers speak for themselves: fewer than one in three local authorities in the UK currently have enough childcare places for children under two, and the DfE estimates the sector needs around 70,000 new places just to meet current demand.
