Business of the year

The most prestigious award of the evening, the ‘business of the year’ is the leading business selected from over 2,000 Chamber members from every size and sector of business, from the borders of Yorkshire to Scotland and Cumbria.

This business will be selected from all winners in this year’s business awards as the most exceptional from the entire region’s business community.

We cannot wait to find out who it is!

Sponsored by 

OakNorth was founded in September 2015 with one fundamental purpose: to serve and empower small-to-medium sized businesses (£1m-£100m turnover) that are seeking to scale but are routinely underserved or overlooked by traditional banks.

Having now lent over £10b, OakNorth offers fast, flexible debt financing, ranging from £250,000 to tens of millions to high-growth businesses across the UK, within senior living and healthcare, childcare and education, real estate, hospitality, funds and specialty funds.

The bank differentiates itself from other lenders via four unique differentiators: Speed, Flexibility, Transparency, and an Entrepreneurial Approach. Furthermore, by behaving as reliable, long-term partners to its customers, it has been able to make them its best advocates. As a result, half of its new lending comes via referrals, and 40% of its borrowers are repeat customers.