LHV Bank, the UK’s newest licenced bank, announces the official opening of its Manchester office. The location will serve as the Northern office for the bank’s SME lending business line, offering commercial property and trading loans to UK SMEs, with values from £0.5 million up to £5 million.

IN BRIEF:

-Challenger and specialist banks now control 55% of the UK SME lending market, as per data from the British Business Bank

-In addition to the readily available capital from its parent company, LHV Group, the bank recently entered the personal savings arena with Raisin UK

-LHV Bank is well positioned for further growth in the space, supported by its strong balance sheet.

What does this mean?

Commenting on the Manchester expansion, Erki Kilu, the CEO of LHV Bank, said: “In a short space of time, our SME lending team has already built a solid loan book, positioning ourselves well for growth and highlighting the market demand for competitive loans in the region. According to LHV’s updated financial plan, we now project a £100 million loan book by year-end, doubling the forecast from the start of this year.”