Allica tops list of 100 fastest-growing UK firms

Allica Bank has claimed the title of Britain’s fastest-growing firm, according to the latest Sunday Times research.

The latest report reveals the top 100 private businesses that are making significant strides in entrepreneurial Britain. The list – which requires businesses to be profitable and based in the UK – measures average annual growth in sales over the last three years, with Allica posting a growth rate of 537% a year to £191 million.

Allica Bank – the UK’s only full-service digital bank built solely for established SME businesses – reported pre-tax profit of £16.1 million for the year ending 31st December 2023 marking the first full year of profit at Allica.

2023 saw the bank accelerate its efforts to disrupt the SME banking market with a series of achievements including the public launch of its business current account which now has over 2,000 customers; reaching £2 billion in loans to SMEs; growing customer deposits by over £1 billion; launching a ground-breaking savings campaign calling for better rates for the UK’s SME savers, highlighting £7.5 billion of missing savings interest across the SME market; and winning more than 20 industry awards throughout the year.

Allica’s strong progress with SME customers has resulted in another year of strong financial metrics, with revenue increasing 141% to £191 million; total lending to SMEs increasing 47% to £2 billion; customer deposits increasing 75% to £2.6 billion; net interest margin increasing to 5.0% in 2023 (3.6% in 2022); and cost:income ratio down to 24% to 65.0% (85.7% in 2022).

Allica Bank, which opened for lending in 2020, was also named as the fastest-growing UK fintech ever by Deloitte in their UK Technology Fast 50 2023 ranking.

Commenting on Allica’s performance over the last 12 months, Richard Davies, CEO said: “The last year has been incredibly successful at Allica. We’ve seen significant growth in revenue, lending and deposits, showing that our proposition for SMEs is starting to really cut through.

“Recording our first full year profit just three years after opening our doors for lending on the eve of the covid lockdown was a true milestone in challenging market conditions, and one we’re very proud to have achieved.

“Allica remains the UK’s only full-service digital bank dedicated to serving established SMEs, and we are laser focused on transforming banking for this critical segment of our economy”.