Allica Bank expects to lend £500m in 2021 after first year success

Last year the bank completed £71m in new SME lending.

New business lender Allica Bank completed an impressive £71m in SME loans last year, its first year of lending.

Most impressively that lending was all completed without involvement in the Government-backed Coronavirus lending schemes, which dominated the landscape in 2020.

“We have seen phenomenal growth across our lending products, especially commercial mortgages, with a significant increase in SMEs and brokers selecting Allica Bank as their lender of choice,” said CEO Richard Davies.

Looking ahead to 2021, Davies expects the bank to make over £500m worth of committed lending offers, with around £120m worth of offers already in the market.

“Whilst the majority of attention in the market has been on the Covid lending schemes, we have seen high demand for regular lending from established SMEs—and we expect this trend to continue to increase,” he said.

Some 85 per cent of Allica’s lending to-date has been to businesses outside of London, and the CEO expects Q1 2021 lending to match or exceed what the bank achieved throughout the whole of 2020.

“We continue to drive efficiencies and enhanced service to customers through optimising our modern technology infrastructure, with loan applications consistently processed within 24 hours,” Davies added.

“As focus shifts to the recovery, Allica Bank is extremely well-positioned to help brokers and Britain’s community of established SMEs strengthen and scale their businesses.”