A specialist lender to the agricultural sector has secured a fresh £100m loan guarantee from the UK’s economic development bank.
Sky News understands that Oxbury Bank, which focuses on lending to farmers, food producers and the rural economy, has signed a new deal with the British Business Bank that will be announced within days.
City sources said the extended agreement, which doubles the sum guaranteed by the BBB late last year, would accelerate Oxbury’s lending into the sector.
The new deal includes a feature stipulating that lending activity which meets environmental, social and governance (ESG) criteria will be eligible for reduced pricing, according to one insider.
The original £100m loan guarantee was among the first sanctioned under the BBB’s ENABLE programme which provided protection to an existing portfolio of lending, providing an immediate capital benefit to Oxbury.
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Founded in 2021, Oxbury has secured backing from a syndicate of technology investors, and has raised more than £120m since inception.
Further equity-raising activity is understood to be on the company’s near-term agenda.
Industry insiders said Oxbury had become one of the fastest British fintechs to reach profitability, with one suggesting that it may rank only behind Oaknorth, the digital bank, in the speed at which it reached that milestone.
Based in Chester, it claimed to be the first British bank focused exclusively on farmers since the Agricultural Mortgage Corporation was established in 1928.
Oxbury and the BBB declined to comment.