Ben Barbanel, Head of Debt Finance at OakNorth

For ambitious UK businesses, breaking into the US market can be game-changing. With a population of over 340 million and accounting for around a quarter of global GDP in 2024, the United States represents an incredibly attractive growth opportunity — one defined by scale, innovation, and potential reach.

The attraction for British businesses to cross the pond also stems from shared language and cultural similarities, as well as various economic parallels, such as a stable and heavily regulated banking system, sound fiscal policies, access to private capital and a significant consumer base. Furthermore, the US continues to cement itself as a global leader in innovation and technology, offering UK companies access to advanced research, development, and technology ecosystems on a different scale to what’s available in the UK.

Aiming to capitalise on the US’ vast potential means not just making brave and bold decisions, but also having a well-considered plan, product-market fit, trusted advisors, and of course, growth funding – which is where we come in.

For some time now, OakNorth has seen a significant opportunity in providing leading growth companies with the financial firepower to make their American dream a reality. For example, F1 Arcade, the world’s first F1® experiential hospitality brand, with sites in London and Birmingham, secured OakNorth funding to support its US expansion. Its Boston site is already open, and its Washington D.C. and Las Vegas sites are coming soon.

In addition, firms such as global full-service digital marketing agency Croud, and world-leading architectural visualisation business, The Boundary, have benefitted from OakNorth funding to support their US growth. And, in May 2024, we provided capital to Ultimate Performance, the London-founded provider of personalised training and nutrition programmes, which has since opened two new sites in California, to build upon its existing US presence in Washington DC and Bethesda.

Beyond supporting UK businesses with their U.S expansion, OakNorth is also uniquely positioned — and continues to see a timely opportunity — to serve and empower the lower middle market in the US, a segment totalling $4.2 trillion. In the summer of 2023, following the collapse of several US banks focused on this segment, we saw an opportunity to step up and close the funding gap.

Since then, we’ve supported US businesses with their growth ambitions, providing several hundred million dollars of capital, including a $28m note-on-note facility to Oak Funding to support the acquisition of a Class A commercial office building in Secaucus, New Jersey and an $18.4m note-on-note facility to S3 Capital, to support the development of a major new residential scheme in Upper East Side, Manhattan. Demand from US borrowers remains exceptionally strong, and our differentiated offering and unique approach to lending have enabled us to rapidly establish a strong presence in the US market — resulting in lending nearly three times our initial expectations.

Building on this momentum, in March 2025, we announced the acquisition of Community Unity Bank (CUB), a home-grown, FDIC-insured community bank based in Birmingham, Michigan, in a stock-for-stock transaction. The acquisition, which is subject to regulatory approval, follows the authorisation we received in August 2024 from the Federal Reserve and the New York State Department of Financial Services to open a Representative Office in New York. The acquisition will enable us, through CUB, to expand our business lending throughout the United States, including in Michigan. As a founder-led business built by entrepreneurs, CUB appealed to us for its strong alignment in values around customer experience — reflected in both its customer feedback and company culture.

As I look ahead to the rest of 2025 and beyond, I’m incredibly excited by the number of ‘American Dreams’ we’ll help make a reality — for both UK firms expanding across the pond, as well as home-grown US businesses too.