OakNorth Bank

A UK bank that lends to growing businesses and offers savings accounts. Founded in London in 2015, it has offices in London and Manchester and regional hubs across England.

About OakNorth Bank

OakNorth Bank is a British bank that lends to businesses that are growing, typically those with sales of £1 million to £100 million. These "scale-ups" are often too big for a small-business loan from a high-street bank but too small to get attention from the biggest banks. OakNorth also offers savings accounts and cash ISAs (tax-free savings) to individuals and businesses, and its savers' deposits help fund that lending.

OakNorth was founded in London in 2015 by Rishi Khosla and Joel Perlman. Its own About page tells the story: their earlier data analytics company, Copal Amba, was profitable, but when they sought business finance in 2005, "the computer said 'no'". They built OakNorth as a bank founded by entrepreneurs, for entrepreneurs. Khosla is chief executive and Lord Adair Turner is chairman. Its registered office is 57 Broadwick Street, London, and its careers page lists UK teams in London, Manchester, Leeds, Bristol, Newcastle and Birmingham, plus a sister company in India and a US business in New York.

OakNorth describes its mission as "enabling intrepid entrepreneurs and connecting savvy savers with the tools and tech to fast-track their future". Its careers page adds a core belief that "Banking should be barrier-free". Khosla has said the middle ground between small retail loans and big institutional lending is where many growing businesses are "orphaned", and that meeting borrowers in person matters, with a human credit committee working alongside data analysis.

Its products include loans from £1 million upwards, savings accounts such as easy access, notice and fixed-term accounts, a Junior Cash ISA, and business banking for firms with more than £1 million in turnover, which launched in November 2023. It lends across sectors including childcare and education, healthcare, hospitality, real estate and speciality finance. Past customers named in an interview include Brasserie Blanc and LEON.

OakNorth lists seven values, including One team, Customer delight, 10x ("better is good, ten times better is great") and Say it how it is. It says it has a flat structure where people are encouraged to speak up and challenge the norm, and that staff can get equity in the business. This is the company's own description. For early careers, OakNorth launched a graduate rotational programme in 2021, and graduates have rotated through finance, treasury, operations, credit, people, risk and regulatory affairs, with rotations of about six months. It also runs Mentorpreneurship, a partnership with LSE Generate that links students with mentors. We did not find current intake dates or pay.

What they do

• {'desc': 'Loans for growing businesses from £1m upwards.', 'title': 'Business lending'}
• {'desc': 'Notice, fixed-term and easy-access savings.', 'title': 'Savings and ISAs'}
• {'desc': 'Accounts for firms with over £1m turnover.', 'title': 'Business banking'}
• {'desc': 'Placements across the bank, launched 2021.', 'title': 'Graduate rotational programme'}

Key facts

• Founded 2015 in London by Rishi Khosla and Joel Perlman
• Mission: "enabling intrepid entrepreneurs and connecting savvy savers"
• UK teams in London, Manchester, Leeds, Bristol, Newcastle and Birmingham (careers page)
• Business banking launched November 2023
• Graduate rotational programme launched 2021 (OakNorth blog)

Website: www.oaknorth.co.uk