About Us
For far too long, entrepreneurs and growth businesses in the UK have been underserved by their banks. In 2006, our founders Rishi Khosla and Joel Perlman were trying to secure working capital to support their growth business, Copal Amba (now part of Moody´s Corporation). Despite having a good business with healthy cash flow, they found that banks were unwilling to help because the business had no property to act as security. As they built their business they came across many other entrepreneurs in the UK who faced the same challenge. That's why OakNorth was created.
OakNorth has been founded and is run by entrepreneurs not bankers. We therefore understand entrepreneurs and owned-manager's needs, and appreciate the fact that their requirements often don't fit into standardised models.
We believe that a funding partner needs to be able to understand the dynamics of a business and structure lending to suit that business as-opposed to the other way around.
We have an efficient credit process with early stage yes/no decisions to avoid wasting the borrower's time (and our time)
Borrowers meet the bank's Credit Committee (the decision makers) for face to face discussions
We provide flexible and bespoke funding structures, focusing on the specific business requirements and situation.
March 2015
We secured the third new banking licence in the UK in 150 years
May 2015
We announced the appointments of Lord (Adair) Turner and Robert Burgess as Non-Executive Directors.
July 2015
We appointed Cyrus Ardalan, former Barclays Vice Chairman of Public Policy & Government Relations, as Chairman
September 2015
We launched after being granted full authorisation from the PRA and FCA
November 2015
We secured £66m equity investment from Indiabulls, India´s largest non-bank SME lender
May 2016
We became the first UK bank to have its core systems fully-hosted in the cloud in what the Financial Times called a "landmark move" for the industry
September 2016
We became the first new bank* in the UK to break even and achieve profitability within one year of launching
December 2016
We complete our largest deal to date, a £20m loan to Whittlebury, bringing our loan book to £300m
January 2017
OakNorth becomes the first non-incumbent bank to join the British Business Bank´s Help to Grow Programme
March 2017
OakNorth completes first deal under the British Business Bank's Help to Grow Programme, a £600k loan to Notes
April 2017
We’re named on The 2017 Leap 100: the definitive list of the fastest-growing and most exciting companies in the UK
May 2017
We win Property Week RESI’s Residential Financier of the Year Award
July 2017
The team climb to the peak of Mount Snowdon in a challenge that tested us both mentally and physically!
October 2017
We secure a £160m investment from Coltrane, The Clermont Group and Toscafund, valuing the company at over $1bn and enabling us to lend a further £1.5bn in the UK in 2018
November 2017
GIC, the Singaporean sovereign wealth fund, invests £90m in OakNorth, making the combination of our primary and secondary investment (£250m), the largest UK fintech raise to date
November 2017
We're named Bank of the Year at the City A.M. Awards
December 2017
We are approved by the Bank of England’s Term Funding Scheme
March 2018
We are named on Tech City UK’s Future Fifty
March 2018
We secured one of 15 places on the Department of International Trade’s fintech trade mission to New York City