New specialist lender secures UK banking licence

The banking licence allows the Middlesbrough-headquartered bank to begin its plans to lend £3bn over the next five years.

GB Bank will provide property development loans of between £500,000 and £5 million, with lending supporting regional property developers, small and medium-sized businesses, and construction companies.

The Teesside Pension Fund (TPF) is GB Bank's cornerstone investor, providing £48m to support the bank's growth plans.

Stephen Lancaster, CEO of GB Bank, said: "We are absolutely delighted to officially launch GB Bank! I'm incredibly proud of the entire team's hard work, which has enabled us to achieve the fantastic milestone of securing our full UK banking licence. Everyone at GB Bank is raring to go and can't wait to see, first-hand, the positive impact GB Bank will make to the communities across the UK."

Paul Rippon, chairman of GB Bank, commented: "GB Bank is bringing something truly unique to the market, and it's hugely rewarding to know the future of communities across the UK will directly improve due to our work. The funding will build new homes and offices to reinvigorate communities and create jobs supported by secure and competitive saving accounts.

"GB Bank is only the second UK bank to launch this year, which demonstrates how incredibly challenging launching a bank is! The team deserves huge credit, and we are excited about what the future holds."

Neil Williams, chief lending officer at GB Bank, added: "Developers are facing numerous challenges such as increasing material costs, access to land and difficulty sourcing and retaining labour. We are helping by working with them to provide quick lending decisions to better enable them to commit to purchasing land, providing competitive fixed interest rates so they can more accurately calculate funding costs together with providing connections to a property ecosystem with local, professional advisers.

"All our loans are tailored to individual developers' needs and requirements. The relationship managers and credit partners are based locally meeting with the developer early in the development appraisal to ensure their needs are identified. This local decision-making ensures that the developer is quickly and efficiently supported throughout their lending journey. We have a real passion for the region and look forward to putting that knowledge and enthusiasm into supporting regional communities that need it most."