Manchester and London-based OakNorth — a digital bank for entrepreneurs — said it made £223 million of pre-tax profit in 2025, following record growth in the US.
OakNorth said it has provided more than £15.1 billion of lending to the lower mid-market over the past decade, empowering thousands of established entrepreneurs to grow their businesses, supporting over 70,000 jobs and generating more than £40 billion in economic value.
The digital bank said it “maintained its disciplined and sustainable growth” in 2025 with total facilities increasing by 18% to £7.2 billion, driven by a 33% increase in gross originations to £2.8 billion.
Notably, 40% of gross originations came from the US – a market OakNorth only entered in 2023 following the regional commercial banking crisis.
The bank said: “Throughout 2025, OakNorth continued to invest in its US expansion, whilst simultaneously supporting businesses which are operating across both the US and UK – such as F1 Arcade, Ultimate Performance, and Mamas & Papas.
“Other growth areas included the acquisition (pending regulatory approval) of Community Unity Bank, its business banking offering – including a strategic transaction with Monite, and its AI capabilities working across model providers.
“These investments were made while maintaining OakNorth’s robust financial discipline and substantial profits, and enabled the business to further enhance its efficiency. Various initiatives including a focus on AI drove a 10% improvement in operating leverage during the year, with its efficiency ratio improving from 29% to 26%.”
Rishi Khosla, CEO and Co-founder of OakNorth, said: “Over the past decade, OakNorth has become the leading disruptor serving lower mid-market businesses. In 2025, we delivered £605.9m of gross revenue, becoming the only scaled distributor focused on lending to the lower mid-market segment.
“We maintained our disciplined approach to credit and capital allocation, generating strong retained earnings, while significantly investing for expansion.
“Our model was built to deliver forward-looking, customised credit solutions for ambitious, proven entrepreneurs. We started factoring in AI disruption impact into credit decisions in 2024.
“The fact that 40% of our originations now come from the US, demonstrates that this model is transferable and competitive in one of the world’s largest lending markets. With significant runway for growth across the UK and US, we’re primed to make our next decade even more impactful than our first.”