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Oxbury Bank – Britain’s first and only AgTech bank – secures new funding as it continues rapid lending growth

Press release 31 August 2022

  • Secures £25 million Tier 2 capital facility from British Business Investments

  • Follows successful £20 million equity raise in July and forecasts profitability in 2022

  • £650 million of completed or in progress lending since launch – with target to lend £1 billion by 2024

Oxbury Bank – the UK’s first and only AgTech bank – has secured £25 million in Tier 2 capital funding, with the investment made by British Business Investments, a wholly-owned commercial subsidiary of the British Business Bank.

British Business Investments aims to increase the supply and diversity of finance for smaller businesses across the UK by boosting the lending capacity of challenger banks and non-bank lenders. Since it was established in 2014, British Business Investments has committed over £3 billion to providers of finance to UK smaller businesses.

The new funding will support Oxbury’s forecast growth in lending across the British farm and food sector, as farmers look for more flexible finance to support their sector as they address the challenges of on-going security of the UK’s food supply and also the transition to long-term sustainable supply.

Oxbury’s strong performance since launch means it is forecast to break even by the end of 2022. This Tier 2 Capital facility from British Business Investments will enable Oxbury Bank to support additional lending of £250 million to small and medium British businesses across the remainder of 2022 and through 2023.

The new funding follows on from a further £20 million in new Core Tier 1 equity raised in July from new and existing investors, with total capital raised and secured by Oxbury Bank having now reached £93 million.

Oxbury has been lending to SMEs in the rural economy since March 2021. In its first 16 months the bank’s strong performance has underlined the strong demand for a true alternative to the incumbent banks in the farming and food sector:

  • Converting an initial £650 million of business since launch
  • Targeting £1 billion in lending to farming, food businesses SMEs and the rural economy by 2024
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. Tim Coates Co-Founder and Chief Customer Officer, Oxbury Bank
This £25 million 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 £250 million of additional finance for smaller businesses across the British farm and food sector, helping them to grow and succeed. Judith Hartley CEO, British Business Investment

Further Information

Notes to editors

About Oxbury Bank

Oxbury is the UK’s first and only AgTech bank, sitting at the heart of the technology revolution sweeping British farming.

British farming and food is going through a period of radical transformation, and farm businesses require more tailored finance, technology and data solutions to help them make the generational shifts required to improve sustainability, provenance and production standards across the farming and food supply chain.

For decades traditional banks have been reducing critical working capital to farm businesses and removing specialist agriculture expertise.

Oxbury was founded with a completely fresh vision for how a finance company can support the UK’s critical farming and food ecosystem.

With a proprietary fintech platform – Oxbury Earth – combined with our decades of banking and farming experience, Oxbury offers more tailored, flexible and reliable finance along with a unique data solutions that helps farmers deliver improved sustainability, provenance and productivity across the farming and food supply chain.

Oxbury Bank Plc is authorised by the Prudential Regulation Authority and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority and the Prudential Regulation Authority (Financial Services Register number: 834822).

For more information about Oxbury visit: oxbury.com

About British Business Investments

British Business Investments is the trading name of British Business Investments Ltd, a wholly-owned commercial subsidiary of British Business Bank plc, the UK government’s economic development bank. It forms part of the British Business Bank’s commercial arm.

British Business Investments aims to earn a commercial return by investing – through finance providers – in smaller businesses and small mid-caps, pursuing investments on a fully commercial basis without receiving any economic advantage from the government. Find out more at bbinv.co.uk.

British Business Bank plc and its subsidiary entities are not banking institutions and do not operate as such. They are not authorised or regulated by the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) or the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA). A complete legal structure chart for British Business Bank plc and its subsidiaries can be found on the British Business Bank plc website.

The funding from British Business Investments to Oxbury Bank Plc does not amount to any endorsement or warranty from British Business Investments, the British Business Bank plc, or the government of the UK.

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