Smart, flexible finance for every sector
We were founded by entrepreneurs, so we know the challenges of growing a business. With our experience, data, and sector-specific knowledge, we can design the right loan to help you thrive.
OakNorth loans have helped businesses up and down the country transform communities, regenerate local areas and bring about new opportunities. We’re proud to have supported businesses that have created tens of thousands of jobs and new homes.
Meet Richard, CEO of Cullen Wealth
When needing to raise capital to buy other shareholders, our speciality finance options were able to help them complete the move he needed quickly and easily.
I’m Richard Cullen – it sounds like glorious title – CEO of Cullen Wealth today. I’m originally a Yorkshireman. I came here for a short stint but ended up staying over here for a long time. 24 years ago, I decided to set up my own IFA firm. I don’t know quite how this happened. But we’ve grown to the point where we have 75 people today. And we’re, I guess, now a large regional financial planning practice.
When we went into lockdown, I wanted to refocus myself on the business for the long term. At that time, I owned around half of the business, and I had some non-working shareholders that wanted to take a different path than me so we wanted to buy those guys out. So, we had to raise some money, for the first time ever, and we just made some decisions about who we wanted to work with and that was OakNorth.
They came, they listened to us. I felt relaxed in their environment. I thought they were easy people to talk to, they understood the business. They asked a lot of very good questions, which were able to answer and satisfy them that we were a good business and worth lending £4 million to. Our expectations were managed very, very well. We understood early on what the process was going to be, OakNorth with just very open with us throughout.
We wanted to deal with it quickly, so all parties were on a very tight timeline. The process took us less than two months start to finish, and I would say probably six weeks from starting underwriting to us having the cash in our bank to serve the purpose it needed.
I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend OakNorth. I feel I could pick up the phone to a number of the guys I’ve met there and pass a client name on with confidence. I know they’ll get looked after.
We’re entrepreneurs at heart, so we build our loans with business owners front and centre. That means no inflexible and inefficient finance facilities, no-time wasting, and no ambiguity. Just straightforward funding without giving up equity.
Not sure which debt finance matches your business needs? Tell us what you’re looking to achieve and we can structure a custom facility to get you there. In the meantime, check out our comprehensive guide to UK business loans for more info.
If you have a clear vision for growth, we can make it happen. Speak to a member of our team and we’ll help you kickstart your next move.
We work with almost any industry sector, as long as they’re not involved in areas such as gambling, weapons or oil and gas.
Along with taking the time to speak to you and understand your objectives, we also use forecasting tools to get a sense of where you’re going. We’re not restricted by historic financials, which means we can build something truly personalised, that takes into account your business’ growth trajectory.
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.
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.
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.
