£250m and counting: strong lending momentum through H1 2026
Shawbrook’s Financial Sponsors team has deployed over £250m of incremental lending this year, marking its strongest first-half lending performance to date and maintaining strong momentum in support of sponsors investing in UK SMEs.
The milestone comes despite subdued deal volumes and intense competition for high-quality opportunities across the UK lower mid-market underlining the resilience, reach and differentiation of Shawbrook’s sponsor-facing franchise.
The team has continued to support an impressive range of high-quality sponsors, backing a series of new platforms alongside continued support for existing relationships, spanning technology, education, healthcare and business services. The half-year completions reflect both the breadth of Shawbrook’s sponsor network and its ability to structure and deliver funding at pace for ambitious SMEs.
This performance takes Shawbrook’s Financial Sponsors lending book beyond £1bn and reflects the increasing scale and breadth of the franchise, as well as the strength of the team and its ongoing commitment to delivering a premium service to sponsors and borrowers.
James Salmon, head of financial sponsors at Shawbrook commented: “To deliver this record figure in such a competitive and challenging market is a real statement of strength of the team. This result reflects the depth and quality of the relationships we’ve built across the sponsor community, our ability to differentiate through service and speed, and our absolute focus on delivering a premium, dependable service for borrowers at every stage of a deal. We’re proud to be backing such an exciting raft of new platforms, and the pipeline gives us real confidence as we move through the second half of the year.”