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Business loans
that work for you

Specialist business loans, by a financing partner that speaks your language.

Structured financing for go-getters

Traditional loans don’t always cut it. That’s why we focus on making complex financing needs simple for fast-growth business owners. How? With bespoke facilities built by industry experts. We focus solely on structured debt finance, lending over £11 billion to forward-thinking businesses across the UK and US.

We’ve built schools and carbon net-zero homes up and down the UK with award-winning property development financing. We’ve brought bustling brasseries to more metropolitan cities and supported innovative manufacturing businesses with mergers and acquisitions. And with flexible repayments across fixed terms, or revolving credit facilities, we put you in control of your future.

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Other sectors

From security to gardening to manufacturing and construction, we’ve funded a range of different sectors.
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Real estate

Homes, redevelopments, operational real estate and more.
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Childcare and education

Schools, early years, nurseries and specialist education providers.
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Senior Living

Care homes, domestic care, residential homes, retirement villages and more.
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Fund & speciality finance

Providing bespoke support and fast, flexible debt finance to funds and private equity firms across the UK.
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Hospitality

Supporting hospitality businesses, including pubs, hotels, restaurants and more.

Changing the definition of lending

Our intelligent tech allows us to look at the future, rather than just fixate on the past. It means we don’t treat all businesses the same, and we won’t provide blanket business loans for an entire sector.

We’ll take the time to truly understand your business. No decisions based on outdated financials, no hiding behind credit teams – just a transparent process that lets us find where your success lies, and how we can cultivate it.

QUICK ACCESS TO CASH

Get funded faster

Whether it’s for an acquisition or capital expenditure, we understand the importance of fast access to cash.

We typically fund our partners within weeks, rather than months.

HIGHLY CUSTOMISED SOLUTIONS

Tailor your finance to your future

No two businesses are the same, and neither are their growth plans. We take the time to understand the ebbs and flows of your business, the things that make you different. That way we can provide debt finance that’s future-proof, saves you time and helps you reach your milestones.

A TRANSPARENT PROCESS

Meet key decision makers

Getting a business loan shouldn’t be smoke and mirrors. That’s why we make decisions quickly and accurately and communicate them in simple terms. You’ll be involved in every key step of the process. And for loans above a certain size, you’ll even be invited to meet our Credit Committee.

EXPERTS THAT UNDERSTAND BUSINESS GROWTH

Reach success with the right people

Partnering with OakNorth means partnering with entrepreneurs that understand your ambitions. We come from a business mindset, and everything we do is focused on helping determined businesses thrive in a diverse UK economy.

Fast track your future with flexible funding from £1million

Ready to realise your ambition? Take your business further with the right financing partner. Get in touch to speak to our team of experts today.

28000 +

new homes built using OakNorth funding

500

new beds created for senior living businesses in 2021

40000 +

new jobs created using OakNorth funding

Little girl looking at map

215 M

£ lent to childcare and education businesses

750 +

developers supported to date

40 %

repeat customers

How are we
making a difference?

When we fund growing businesses we see jobs created, houses built and high streets flourish. It makes the world a more interesting place to live.

Backing the UK's brightest businesses

Watch their stories

Bespoke deals for every customer

Private Equity
Palamon Capital Partners

Monday June 17th, 2024

OakNorth continues building its fund finance capabilities with subscription line to leading private equity firm, Palamon Capital Partners

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Real Estate
Capilon Hotels Group

Thursday May 30th, 2024

OakNorth has provided a £19.5m co-loan with ASK Partners to independent hotel management business, Capilon Hotels Group.

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Real Estate
Blue Shield Capital

Monday May 13th, 2024

OakNorth provides £25m loan to fast-growing property lending firm, Blue Shield Capital, to fund new real estate bridging loans

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Private Equity
Croud

Thursday May 2nd, 2024

OakNorth completes £34m club loan to LDC-backed leading digital marketing agency, Croud, to support future acquisitions.

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Real Estate
Caissa Holdings

Wednesday April 24th, 2024

OakNorth completes £1.3m loan to real estate firm, Caissa Holdings, to support maiden acquisition in Scotland

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Real Estate
honey

Tuesday April 2nd, 2024

OakNorth provided a further £12.2m loan to returning customer and SME housebuilder, honey, to fund part of two residential schemes.

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Real Estate
Ambassador Group

Thursday March 14th, 2024

Glasgow-based, Ambassador Group, to build new homes at historic Bangor Village, following £21m loan from OakNorth

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Real Estate
Hurstwood Holdings

Tuesday March 12th, 2024

Manchester-based property business, Hurstwood Holdings, to develop three residential schemes following £18m loan from OakNorth.

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Streamlined financing for your next buy-to-let investment

Looking for fast financing to expand your buy-to-let portfolio? With our digital loan application, you can apply for finance from £1,000,000 up to £3,000,000 and you could receive loan terms tailored to your next residential property investment in just 5 minutes.*

*Subject to each application circumstance

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What is a business loan?

A business loan is a sum of money lent to a business by a bank, or alternative lender, to help finance its growth. Business loans – also known as debt finance, are usually repaid to the lender, with added interest over the agreed time period.

Which business loan is right for me?

We don’t provide off-the-shelf solutions, which means we have a range of specialised business loans designed with your sector or use case in mind – for example property investment finance or acquisition finance. To find out more about the full range of unsecured and secured business loans we can offer, and what they can be used for, visit our business loan guide.

Introducing OakNorth?

If you’re a broker, intermediary, accountant, or anyone that advises ambitious UK SMEs, connect your clients with straightforward financing from £1million up to tens of millions, to help them accelerate their growth.

FAQs

At the moment, the minimum loan size that we provide businesses is £1million. 

We differ from other lenders in that we can fund your business within days or weeks, rather than months like typical lenders. 

Fill out a few details about your business and the loan you’re looking for here and our expert team will be in touch with you to discuss your options. From there, they’ll help you with every step of the process from start to funding. 

Depending on factors like your business’ risk profile and what you need the funding for, we can provide amortising loans, where you gradually pay off your debt with regular payments, as well as non-amortising loans, where you pay off the loan in a lump sum.

We provide specialist financing for different sectors and use cases. Our property financing helps developers build new restaurants, hotels, care homes or apartments. Our property investment financing helps investors build out their residential and commercial portfolios. Our acquisition financing helps businesses with management buyouts or expand by buying new businesses. Whatever your growth goals are, we can help tailor the perfect business loan to help you achieve them.

The cost of your loan is based on what kind of borrower you are, or your risk profile, which depends on factors like credit history, industry sector and more. We focus on speed, flexibility and competitive terms over price.

Unlike many other high street banks, we won’t make you transfer your business banking over to us, so you can apply for a loan quickly and easily.

We’re not an out-the-box lender so we don’t have a one-size fits all approach. But, there are a few things we’ll look at for certain types of loan, for example:

  • How long you’ve been trading
  • Your annual turnover
  • Whether you’re profitable or not
  • What your EBITDA is

Our financing specialists will help you structure a loan that meets your needs and allows us to lend responsibly. Once you’ve worked with them to create the perfect financing, our legal and credit and risk team will get involved to assess the overall risk and help make the final decision. Depending on the size of your business loan, you may even get the opportunity to join a Credit Committee with our Co-founder to pitch your business plan. Because we’re an agile business, all of this happens in days and weeks rather than the months of typical high street banks.