Allica Bank has smashed through £3 billion in lending and £4 billion in deposits as the UK’s established SMEs flock to the challenger that promises to deliver ‘business banking how it used to be, just better’.
Allica, which is the UK’s only full-service bank solely focused on established businesses, posted its first full year of profitability in 2023 and has continued to see substantial profitable growth since. The company topped The Sunday Times Top 100 List of Britain's fastest-growing private companies in June, and came number one in the 2024 Deloitte Technology Fast 50 List for a second year in a row - only the second company in history to achieve this. Earlier this month Allica was also named the fastest-growing start-up in Europe by Sifted.
The bank will report its full year performance in April 2025, but has revealed it has seen substantial growth over the past few months, including:
• Surpassing over £3 billion in business loan balances - including a 64% increase this year alone, with passing £1 billion of new lending for the year in October.
• Achieving £4 billion in total deposits - up from £2.6 billion at year-end 2023.
Allica is keen to continue this growth in a sustainable way and is aiming for a 10% share of the SME market, as well as changing it for the better.
At the heart of Allica’s success has been the evolution of its core offering geared specifically around the needs of established SMEs - helping these businesses get more from their bank through a mix of powerful technology, human support, and products designed to give businesses real value.
Across the past two years, Allica has done just this, launching and growing its business current account - called the ‘Business Rewards Account’ - with no monthly fees, offering some of the best business savings rates on the market, as well as giving its customers a dedicated relationship manager to support them with their banking and help them identify opportunities to grow.
Commenting on Allica’s growth this year, Richard Davies, Allica’s CEO, said: “Our success over the past few months illustrates the continued hard effort and razor-sharp focus of the Allica team to build products that truly meet the needs of established businesses. These SMEs, with typically 5 to 250 employees, are such a critical part of the UK economy and our communities - they contribute a third of UK employment and GDP - but have been ignored by the incumbents for too long.
“The pace of Allica’s growth is testament to the frustration that our customers feel with the status quo, and that Allica is offering a real alternative. We will continue to fight the corner for established SMEs who are so often overlooked and develop our offering even further for them.”
The Great British Savings Squeeze
Along with its primary proposition, Allica has also campaigned for a fairer deal for business savers.
The Great British Savings Squeeze campaign, launched by Allica and backed by the likes of the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) and Institute of Directors (IoD), calls on the ‘broken’ business savings market to change - estimating that SMEs lose out on over £9 billion a year in savings interest because banks aren’t offering fair interest on hard earned savings. This includes a 3% lower average rate offered to SMEs over larger firms by the big banks - a gap that equates to £2,268 each year for small businesses with average savings of £75,000.
Allica is the UK’s only full-service bank solely focused on established SMEs. It is the UK’s fastest-growing company over the past three years and is the UK’s fastest-growing fintech ever.