Allica Bank, the fintech challenger bank focused on established businesses with over ten employees, has completed more than £2billion in lending to UK businesses, with 80 per cent of that being to businesses outside of London.
Having only made its first loan shortly prior to the covid lockdown in March 2020, Allica Bank has revealed that over 40 per cent of its total lending, totalling around £820million, was achieved in 2023 alone.
Over half of this lending was to support businesses purchasing or refinancing a property, such as a new property or to release cash for investment. While £230million was lent to businesses investing in new equipment or machinery.
Allica Bank was recently recognised as 2023’s fastest-growing company by the Deloitte UK Technology Fast 50 awards with revenue growth of 85,438 per cent over the previous three years. In 2022, it also became one of the quickest UK fintechs to become profitable. In June 2022, Allica forecast that it would lend £3billion within the next three years.
Early 2023 saw the bank start its bid to properly shake up the high street with the launch of its business current account: the Business Rewards Account; which was built specifically for its core audience of established businesses with ten or more employees. Allica Bank’s business current account already has over 2,000 customers.
Allica also launched a new growth finance lending product in 2023, designed specifically to provide flexible finance for growing businesses. In addition, Allica offers business mortgages and asset finance.
Capitalising on big banks’ neglect
As the bank enjoyed its most successful year to date in 2023, it also recognised the importance of banks dedicated to the needs of established SMEs across the UK.
As Richard Davies, CEO of Allica Bank, explains, onlookers can expect more growth while the landscape remains the same: “The success Allica Bank has seen in such a short period shows that there’s clearly demand for a bank dedicated to the needs of established SMEs, offering both human relationships and powerful technology.
“Established SMEs make up a third of the UK economy and are such a core part of our local communities and employment, yet have been increasingly neglected by the big banks.
“We have plenty more to come in 2024 as we double down on the growth of our business current account, continue to build out our lending capabilities, and further enhance our offering for our intermediary partners.”
