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Our story
Since our launch, we’ve lent over £7bn to ambitious entrepreneurs up and down the UK. That’s led to the creation of over 31,500 new jobs and over 22,000 new homes – and we’re not about to stop there. We’re dedicated to helping trailblazing businesses thrive and determined savers reach their financial goals.
Delivering success, at pace
We’re OakNorth and we help entrepreneurs scale quickly, realise their ambitions and make data-driven decisions.
And for those who want to make their money go further, while helping businesses thrive? Our savings accounts support the high street and create new jobs, while earning our customers competitive interest.
OakNorth was built on the foundations of frustrations. In 2005, when our founders tried to get business finance for their data analytics company, the computer said ‘no’. Unfortunately, all major banks in the UK were using the same computer – and it was broken.
Why was it so difficult for a profitable business with healthy cash flow, retained clients and commercial success to get a loan? The industry was too focused on financials from the past, rather than potential in the future.
So, what if there was a bank, founded by entrepreneurs, for entrepreneurs? And what if that bank allowed savers to invest their money into businesses that create jobs in their communities?
Say hello to OakNorth.
What we’ve achieved so far
Why we're different
We know what it takes to run a business. We know time-wasting is frustrating. We’re serving overlooked and underserved businesses because we were once one too.
Saving with OakNorth means supporting the UK’s most ambitious businesses. When you help fund their growth, you help create new jobs, build new homes and strengthen the economy.
Tech takes us places, people make those places worth going to. Our people help businesses and savers achieve their financial goals.
We work together to achieve our goals, whether it’s across teams, countries, departments or people in a room.
Success is better shared. We channel the right ambition as individuals to meet our collective goals.
Our customers drive everything we do. We go beyond satisfaction to deliver delight at every opportunity.
Better is good, ten times better is great. We set ambitious goals and work to deliver outsized results.
We’re go-getters so we take decisive action, at pace. It helps us turn dreams into accomplishments.
If it isn’t working we start from scratch to produce the best solutions for customers and colleagues.
What's in a name?
Oak trees are some of the oldest living trees in the world. While we’re not the oldest bank in the world, we are inspired by the mighty oak tree. It signifies strength, staying power and security, all things we align with.
And the North part? It’s the direction we want to take our customers in: upwards. Having a North Star means always having a clear sense of direction, and that’s what we want to help our customers achieve – whether it’s their savings goals or their business growth goals.
Our founders
We were founded by entrepreneurs, Rishi Khosla and Joel Perlman. They studied together and went on to start, scale, and sell a successful data analytics company called Copal Amba. While growing Copal, they were looking for capital, but UK banks weren’t willing to lend to them, despite their profitability and commercial success.
Today, our founders are still front and centre. They help drive the vision of the bank and serve as a reminder for why we do what we do. Their entrepreneurial spirit makes us unlike any other bank in the UK – and we couldn’t be prouder.
Rishi has an undergraduate degree from UCL and a master’s from the LSE. Before co-founding Copal Partners and later, OakNorth, with Joel, Rishi worked at a bank and a family office. He was awarded an OBE in 2020 for services to business.
Joel has an undergraduate degree from Georgetown University and a master’s from the LSE, where he met Rishi. He started his career at McKinsey and then founded a dot-com incubator with his brother before co-founding Copal Partners and later, OakNorth, with Rishi.
We’re helping businesses across all different industries thrive by funding their growth needs. And our savings customers can reach their long-term financial goals with competitive interest rates across a range of different savings accounts.
Support your growth with fast, flexible finance ranging from £250,000 to tens of millions.
Make future plans a reality with personalised savings accounts that work for you.
Our awards
Want to join us?
We’re always looking for ambitious and open-minded colleagues that aren’t afraid to challenge the status quo. Our founders broke the mould of commercial banking – and we can do the same, by staying curious and questioning everything.
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