Metro Bank
A PRA-authorised UK challenger bank that has pivoted toward higher-margin commercial, corporate and specialist lending, offering relationship-led debt to mid-sized trading businesses.
What they do
Metro Bank is a UK high-street challenger bank (founded 2010) that, since 2024, has deliberately reweighted its book away from retail and toward commercial, corporate and SME lending plus specialist mortgages. On the corporate side it provides commercial loans, commercial mortgages, asset finance, invoice finance, asset-based lending and revolving credit, alongside structured, wholesale and fund finance for larger or sponsor-backed situations. Lending is delivered through dedicated relationship managers and a broker/intermediary channel, with sector teams in healthcare, hospitality and leisure, property, and large corporate/structured finance. It segments by size: business banking under ~£2m turnover, commercial banking for roughly £2–25m turnover, and corporate banking for businesses above £25m turnover and/or lending needs over £5m.
Where they fit in a lower-mid-market raise
Metro Bank is a credible senior-debt counterparty for an established, cash-generative trading business in the 3–15m range that wants a clearing-style bank relationship rather than a fund. It is well-suited to ABL and invoice-finance-anchored working-capital structures (minimum £2m facility, advances against debtors, stock, plant and property) and to commercial-mortgage-backed or asset finance needs. Its growing structured-finance team supports acquisitions, MBOs and sponsor-backed deals, with declared sector appetite in healthcare and hospitality/leisure. For a borrower who values a named relationship manager, on-site contact and a bank that is actively expanding commercial headcount and origination (gross new corporate/commercial lending rose 71% to £1.2bn in 2024), Metro can be the right senior partner.
Where they are not the fit
Metro is not the venue for cash-flow-light or pre-profit growth businesses, highly leveraged unitranche structures, or borrowers needing speed and covenant flexibility beyond what a deposit-funded bank can offer — those sit better with private credit or specialist direct lenders. Its ABL has a £2m minimum and mandates an invoice-finance component, so asset-light service businesses with thin balance sheets may not fit. Pricing and leverage will be conservative relative to debt funds, and the larger structured-finance appetite skews toward deals above £5m and toward its named sectors; outside hospitality, healthcare, property and trading, appetite is more selective.
Published terms
- Pricing
- Not published
- Speed to terms
- Not published
- Sponsored or sponsorless
- Both - funded private-equity sponsor acquisition (4D Capital/Hepworth Clay) and corporate/MBO
- Where they lend
- UK; ABL team Midlands/North-West presence
- How they decide
- Broker/intermediary-led origination with dedicated Brokers & Intermediaries deal-structuring team; ABL desk underwrites
- Security
- A borrowing base over receivables, inventory and plant
- Covenants
- Springing covenant, tested only when a trigger is hit
As published by the lender and last reviewed July 2026. Terms quoted on a deal are set by the credit, not by a published band.
What rules a deal out
Stated limits, taken from Metro Bank’s own published criteria. A limit is where a lender starts from, not where it always ends: several of these move on a strong enough credit.
- All ABL facilities must include an invoice-finance (debtors) element
- No appetite in adult, crypto, gambling or weapons
How they sit against the category
- Its published ceiling of £50m is among the 4 highest of the 42 challenger and specialist banks here.
- Like 24 of the 42, it publishes no indicative price — a margin comes from a conversation, not a page.
Counted across the 42 challenger & specialist banks in this directory, on what each one publishes. What a lender discloses and what it will do are different things.
Questions this page answers
How large a facility does Metro Bank write?
Published facilities run £2m to £50m. A band is what a lender states it will do, not what it will do on a given credit.
What security does Metro Bank take?
On the published terms, a borrowing base over receivables, inventory and plant. What a lender takes on a given facility is set in the documents, not by a published stance.
Does Metro Bank lend to companies without a private-equity sponsor?
Yes. Metro Bank lends to owner-managed and sponsor-backed borrowers alike, so a company with no private-equity backer is not out of scope on that ground.
Where does Metro Bank lend?
Metro Bank lends in UK; ABL team Midlands/North-West presence.
What covenants does Metro Bank set?
Springing covenant, tested only when a trigger is hit. A covenant package is negotiated on the facility; the published style is where the negotiation starts.
On the record
Metro Bank PLC is authorised by the Prudential Regulation Authority and regulated by the FCA and PRA, Firm Reference Number 488982.
Metro Bank PLC is registered in England and Wales, company number 06419578, registered office One Southampton Row, London WC1B 5HA.
Corporate banking targets businesses with annual turnover above £25m and/or lending requirements over £5m, and offers structured finance, wholesale finance and fund finance.
Commercial banking is positioned for SMEs with roughly £2–25m turnover, offering commercial loans, commercial mortgages, asset finance, ABL, invoice finance and overdrafts.
Asset-based lending carries a minimum facility of £2m, must include an invoice-finance component, and advances against debtors (up to 90%), stock (up to 85%), plant and machinery (up to 80%) and commercial property (up to 75%).
Via brokers, Metro indicates commercial lending typically from £250k to £50m (higher considered), invoice finance £100k-£50m, ABL £2m-£50m, and commercial mortgages up to £5m, across healthcare, hospitality/leisure, real estate, trading and structured finance.
Metro Bank is pivoting toward higher-margin specialist lending; gross new corporate and commercial lending rose 71% from £0.7bn in 2023 to £1.2bn in 2024, and it sold its £584m personal loan book to support the shift.
Sources: metrobankonline.co.uk · assetfinanceconnect.com
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.