Oxbury Bank – the UK’s first and only AgTech bank – has secured £25m in Tier 2 capital funding to support a predicted growth in lending.
The investment has been made by British Business Investments, a wholly-owned commercial subsidiary of the British Business Bank.
This Tier 2 Capital facility from British Business Investments will enable Chester-based Oxbury Bank to support additional lending of £250m to small and medium British businesses across the remainder of 2022 and through 2023.
Tim Coates, co-founder and Chief Customer Officer at Oxbury Bank said: “This important investment from British Business Investments is another exciting milestone in Oxbury’s development. Additional funding from British Business Investments will help accelerate Oxbury’s support for the rural economy and help farmers and food producers addresses the twin challenges of food security and the transition to low-carbon nature-friendly production.
“Oxbury’s relationship-led approach, enabled by our proprietary Oxbury Earth Agtech banking platform, is essential in serving the needs of the small and medium business that are the lifeblood of this crucial part of the British economy.”
Judith Hartley, CEO at British Business Investments said: “This £25m Tier 2 commitment to Oxbury Bank supports British Business Investments’ mission to increase the diversity and supply of finance for smaller businesses in the UK.
“Specialist banks like Oxbury help diversify the UK’s smaller business finance market and, in turn, help smaller businesses across the UK to access the finance they need.
“This commitment to Oxbury will help unlock up to £250m of additional finance for smaller businesses across the British farm and food sector, helping them to grow and succeed.”
Since it was established in 2014, British Business Investments has committed over £3bn to providers of finance to UK smaller businesses.