Allica Bank
A PRA-authorised UK challenger bank built for established SMEs, lending against commercial property, plant and equipment, and, at the top of its range, cash-flow-light growth facilities secured on a mix of assets.
What they do
Allica is a full-service, deposit-taking bank focused on established UK SMEs (typically two-plus years of accounts, B2B, trading in England, Scotland or Wales). Its lending sits in three buckets: commercial mortgages (owner-occupied and investment, plus a specialist healthcare line), asset finance for plant, vehicles and equipment, and a growth-finance line for larger, more bespoke requirements including acquisitions, MBOs and refinancing. Lending is relationship-managed with a named relationship manager rather than purely automated. The bank reached £3bn of total business lending and second-year profitability in FY2024.
Where they fit in a lower-mid-market raise
Allica fits a 3–15m raise where the debt is anchored in tangible security: a trading premises, an investment property, or a pool of hard assets. Commercial mortgages run to £10m (owner-occupied) and £15m (investment and healthcare), and the growth-finance line explicitly reaches £15m on a secured, term-or-revolving basis for businesses with £5m-plus turnover. For an asset-rich SME that wants an established, regulated bank lender rather than a fund — particularly for property-backed acquisitions, MBOs and refinancings — Allica fits the mid-to-upper band of Solon's range well.
Where they are not the fit
Allica is a secured, asset-and-property-led lender, not a cash-flow underwriter for asset-light businesses; its growth-finance line is secured "against a mix of assets," so a leveraged buyout of a services or software company with little tangible collateral cuts against its grain. It requires two years of full accounts and a profitable, established trading record, so early-stage, pre-profit or special-situations borrowers are out of scope. It does not lend in Northern Ireland, and it is not the venue for unsecured cash-flow unitranche or mezzanine — for those, a private-credit fund is the better fit.
On the record
Allica Bank Limited is authorised by the PRA and regulated by the FCA and PRA under firm reference number 821851.
Allica Bank Limited is an active company, registered number 07706156, SIC 64191 (Banks), registered office 4th/5th Floor, 15 Worship Street, London EC2A 2DT.
Owner-occupied commercial mortgages run from £150,000 to £10m (up to 80% LTV); investment mortgages from £150,000 to £15m (up to 75% LTV); requires two full years of accounts.
Asset finance ranges from £25,000 to £2.5m across hard, medium and soft assets, with up to 100% advance and a maximum 7-year term.
Growth finance ranges from £1m to £15m as secured term loans or revolving credit facilities over 3–6 years, for established UK companies with turnover of at least £5m, supporting expansion, MBOs, refinancing and acquisitions.
In FY2024 Allica reached £3bn of total business lending (up 54%) and pre-tax profit of £29.9m (up 86%), its second full year of profitability.
Allica secured a £30m Tier 2 capital facility from British Business Investments to support its SME lending.
Allica lends to limited companies, LLPs, partnerships and sole traders trading in England, Scotland or Wales.
This profile is a curated reference note drawn from public sources, not financial advice or a recommendation. Appetite and terms change; a lender's fit for a given credit is established by approaching it, not inferred from a page.