White Oak secures £150m from Barclays to double SME lending capacity

The British Business Bank has, at the same time, increased White Oak’s CBILS lending allocation under the terms of the scheme, allowing White Oak to deploy this additional lending to SMEs in addition to the £70m already provided since the lender was accredited under the scheme in May.

White Oak provides business loans, equipment finance and asset-based lending solutions to SMEs and mid-corporate clients across the UK and offers CBILS loans from £75,000 to £5 million over either 12 or 24-month agreement terms. Under the terms of the scheme, interest is covered by the Government for 12 months, and additionally, White Oak customers can benefit from a payment holiday of up to 12-months, enabling them to recover from the crisis without the immediate financial burden of repayments.

With offices in London, Glasgow, Southampton, Manchester and Ewloe in Wales, White Oak benefits from national coverage, with 79% of lending so far deployed to SMEs outside of London.

Andy Davies, managing director of loans and leases at White Oak, said: “We combine our straightforward lending approach with on-demand local expertise to ensure that SMEs get the support they need. The completion of the new facility with Barclays will allow us to deploy more than £100m of additional CBILS loans and continue to provide the support that small businesses need in these challenging times.”

Daniel Werchola, director of M&A at White Oak, added: “We are pleased to have successfully executed this significant transaction with Barclays on an accelerated timeframe to ensure we help SMEs, which are the powerhouse of the UK economy.”