- In just four years since launch, OakNorth Bank has become Europe’s fastest-growing company[1] and ranks amongst the top 1% of banks globally in terms of performance[2];
- Using the OakNorth platform, the Bank has profitably lent over £4bn to British businesses since its launch in September 2015, and attracted deposits from 144,000 savers;
- Its loans have had a significant impact on the British economy, enabling its borrowers to create almost 12,000 new affordable and social homes and 17,000 new jobs across the UK[3];
- As the world continues to experience the impact of climate change, OakNorth Bank is proud to announce that it has become one of the first banks globally to reach net carbon zero for scope 1 and 2 emissions[4].
OakNorth Bank – the UK bank powered by OakNorth – has today published its 2019 Annual Report, revealing that it nearly doubled pre-tax profits last year to £65.9m – up from £33.9m in 2018.
Launched in September 2015, OakNorth Bank was recently named Europe’s fastest-growing company by the Financial Times and provides loans of typically between £500k to £25m to the “Missing Middle” – growth businesses that tend to have the largest impact on economies and communities but have been in banking’s blind spot for decades. Its Platform, which is being licensed to other banks around the world, combines fundamental credit analysis, rich data sets (which include unconventional and previously unavailable data), to provide the insight and foresight needed to holistically understand and profitably lend to these businesses.
The OakNorth approach to better borrowing, coupled with the operating efficiencies realised through the Platform, have enabled OakNorth Bank to rank amongst the top 1% of banks in the developed world by performance, and grow total loan facilities in 2019 to £3.1bn – despite ongoing uncertainty from Brexit and the general election. Through predictive, 360-degree monitoring of borrowers’ financial and operational data, the Platform provides OakNorth Bank with early warning indicators in case of deterioration in credit quality, enabling it to have proactive conversations with borrowers to help them avoid negative events.
Its lending to UK businesses in 2019 has been supported by a loyal and growing UK deposit customer base. The combination of its competitive rates, FSCS-protection, broad range of products, digitally-led proposition and excellent customer service[5] have helped it attract deposits from 144,000 savers (up from 28,000 in 2018) and cement partnerships with other leading fintechs.
Rishi Khosla, CEO and co-founder of OakNorth Bank, commented: “We built OakNorth to provide a better borrowing experience – borrowing the way it should be. In four years, we have been able to leverage OakNorth’s Platform to build one of the most successful new banks globally, and in doing so, help hundreds of UK businesses who have in turn created thousands of new homes and jobs. Our model is proving that it’s possible to delight customers and put them at the heart of your business, whilst generating a profitable and environmentally sustainable business. While I am humbled to see what we have accomplished in our first four years, this is only the beginning. I am excited to demonstrate the power of our Platform and continue to work with our partner banks around the world to enable businesses and economies to thrive.”
ENDS
Notes to editors
About OakNorth
OakNorth is a leading global fintech licensing its next-generation credit analysis and monitoring platform, which enables banks around the world to more effectively address the financing needs of the Missing Middle.
The platform leverages machine learning, decades of credit expertise and massive data sets (including unconventional and previously unavailable data) to model a forward-looking view of a borrower’s financial situation, that’s informed by industry benchmarks, macroeconomic drivers, and scenario analysis specific to that business. It currently has over $17bn of assets under service.
What this means for OakNorth’s commercial banking clients:
- The way borrowing should be – loans that are customised for the borrower’s individual needs and completed in days or weeks vs months, leading to accelerated revenue and business growth
- More attractive economics & scaled growth – origination and credit teams who can transact several times more deals per year
- Insight and foresight without the noise – larger data sets and deeper analysis enable more informed credit decisions and proactive portfolio monitoring delivers better credit outcomes
Since its inception, OakNorth has secured over $1bn from leading investors, including: Clermont Group, Coltrane, EDBI of Singapore, GIC, Indiabulls, NIBC, Toscafund, and SoftBank.
Rishi Khosla and Joel Perlman founded OakNorth in 2015 to address the challenges they faced in securing debt finance from high street banks for their previous business, Copal Amba (which scaled to c.3,000 employees and was acquired by Moody’s Corporation in 2014).
Visit oaknorth.com for more information.
About OakNorth Bank plc
OakNorth Bank provides fast, flexible and accessible debt finance (from £500k to £50m) to fast-growth businesses and established property developers / investors. It has debt finance teams in London, Manchester, Bristol, Birmingham, Leeds and East Anglia.
Since its launch, the bank has:
- Lent over £4bn, directly helping with the creation of 13,000 new homes and 17,000 new jobs in the UK;
- Raised deposits from c.144,000 savers;
- Supported over 750 businesses across the UK with the debt finance to pursue their growth ambitions.
It is authorised by the Prudential Regulation Authority and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and the Prudential Regulation Authority.
Visit wordpress-test-website.oaknorth-it.com for more information.
Contact
Valentina Kristensen, Director – Growth & Communications – [email protected] / [email protected] / +44 757 234 9009
[1] FT 1000 2020 – OakNorth ranked as number one
[2] Based on RORE (Return on Required Equity) and cost/income ratio run-rates, and based on banks in Developed Countries as per UN definition
[3] Figures based on deals OakNorth completed since launch in September 2015
[4] Scope 1 refers to estimated direct emissions while Scope 2 refers to electricity-generated indirect emissions related to suppliers of our IT infrastructure.
[5] Feefo score of 4.5-stars and average time to answer customer calls is just 11 seconds