The journey to scaling a business is rarely straightforward. For female entrepreneurs and leaders, the road can be even steeper. Despite making significant contributions to the UK economy, women lead just 15% of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) with employees, according to the government’s 2023 Small Business Survey. Yet, female-led businesses continue to receive a disproportionately small share of investment and debt funding – just 2% of VC capital. Even so, female founders continue to drive innovation, growth, and change.At Oak North, we’ve had the privilege of working with some of the UK’s most dynamic female-founded and led businesses, all of whom have navigated the complexities of scaling while securing the funding needed to grow. Women like Nisha Katona (MowgliStreet Food), Ella Mills (Deliciously Ella), Tracey Storey (Melrose Education), and Sophie Lawler (Total Fitness)are leading thriving businesses in highly competitive industries. Their journeys reflect the resilience, vision, and ambition that define entrepreneurship today

OakNorth – the leading digital bank for entrepreneurs, by entrepreneurs – today publishes its latest Annual Report, revealing pre-tax profits of £214.8m ($271.6m) in 2024 (FY23 £187.3m / $236.8m)[1]. OakNorth provided over £2.1bn ($2.6bn) of gross new lending in 2024, continuing its track-record of supporting ambitious and innovative businesses across the UK and the US. To date, OakNorth’s total cumulative credit facilities have grown to £12.5bn ($15.7bn) – up from £10.2bn ($12.9bn) at the end of 2023, with an adj. return on equity (ROE)[2] of 22%. OakNorth is also ranked amongst the top 1% of banks globally in terms of return on assets (ROA)[3].OakNorth’s backing continues to be a catalyst for growth, innovation, and market leadership for its lower mid-market customers, as well as creating a positive multiplier effect in the communities and economies in which it operates. Since its launch in September 2015, its loans have directly supported the creation of over 56,000 jobs and over 34,000 new homes, the majority of which are affordable housing[4]

OakNorth, the UK challenger business bank, has reported a 15 per cent increase in pre-tax profits to £215m in 2024, driven by new lending in the UK and the US where it has recently launched. OakNorth, which is backed by SoftBank, the Japanese investment group, lends to UK businesses with between £1m and £100m in revenue and offers business banking through savings accounts and cards. The London-headquartered online lender has lent more than £12.5bn to customers since its 2015 launch