Cambridge & Counties Bank sees near 50% rise in gross new lending in 2025 to £560m
Leicester-headquartered Cambridge & Counties Bank, a specialist lender to UK SMEs, property professionals and entrepreneurs, registered its highest ever level of annual gross new lending in FY2025: £560m, up almost 50% compared to FY2024 (£376m). The significant growth once again illustrated the bank’s strong support for its professional clients and demand for its lending solutions.
Overall, total loans and advances increased 20% to finish the year at almost £1.5bn, with double digit growth in each of its three core markets: Real Estate Finance (REF), Asset Finance (AF), and Classic Vintage & Sports Cars (CV&S).
REF balances increased by more than 15% to £1.21bn, while the bank’s AF book grew 45% to £241m, including a record £46m increase in CV&S, reflecting a strong focus on delivering for brokers and investments in new technology which support enhanced service.
Customer deposits hit a new record, increasing by almost 30% to £1.63bn. Profit before tax for the year was £39.7m, up 11% year-on-year, with Return on Tangible Equity rising to 13.9%. The bank’s cost of risk fell from 42 basis points in 2024 to minus 15bps – the lowest since the bank was launched in 2012.
The bank’s performance was helped by the strength of its relationships with commercial finance brokers. For its real estate book, there was a 31% increase year-on-year in the number of active brokers doing business with the bank. In terms of asset finance, the bank’s focus on service delivery with a core group of brokers resulted in a 74% uplift in broker-led new business in 2025, increasing to £140m.
Donald Kerr, CEO at Cambridge & Counties Bank, said: “2025 was a strongly positive, pivotal year for the bank, delivering a substantial level of support for our customers while growing our own teams and trusted networks of finance brokers. We enter 2026 with a higher quality capital base and strong liquidity ratios, and deeply committed to our stated, long-term strategic purpose as the ‘specialist SME bank of choice’.”
Rich Hanrahan, CFO at Cambridge & Counties Bank, said: “Our performance in 2025 was driven by strong asset growth, disciplined cost control and continued investment into the business. One of our many achievements was delivering a historically low cost of risk. This contributed to our strong funding and capital base which in turn fuelled our high lending growth. We enter 2026 from a position of strength with a continued appetite to do even more business with SMEs and property investors.”
Across 2025, Cambridge & Counties Bank continued to invest in its digital capabilities as well as its offices and its employees. In addition to its new office in Manchester, total staff numbers increased to 248 personnel to support the bank’s continued growth and underpin its relationship-based service model.
The bank also continued to build on its B Corp certification, with 2025 being the second year as an accredited B Corp. Looking ahead, the bank is confident it will be reaccredited in 2027 against the new B Corp standards. In 2024, the bank received its first B Corp impact assessment, achieving an exceptional overall score of 92.8.
Patrick Newberry, chair of Cambridge & Counties Bank, said: “We successfully executed our strategy in 2025 of supporting experienced property investors via a segmented rather than one-size-fits-all approach, while expanding our Asset Finance capabilities and support for UK businesses. In our principal product areas, we deployed technology to improve speed and efficiencies, making it easier and quicker to deliver finance to our customers, while continuing to invest in our base of fantastic employees.
“We believe that building a truly sustainable business which exerts a positive influence within the banking industry and local community makes good, long-term economic sense for us and our clients.”