Recognise Bank
A small, fully PRA-authorised UK challenger bank lending to SMEs and property businesses, increasingly concentrated on secured commercial property and bridging finance.
What they do
Recognise Bank is a deposit-funded UK challenger bank (full banking licence since 2021, FRN 849404) that lends to small and mid-sized businesses, primarily against UK commercial and residential property. Its core products are owner-occupied and investment commercial mortgages, short-term commercial and residential bridging, and professional buy-to-let. It funds this lending with retail and SME savings deposits rather than wholesale or fund capital. Following a 2025 recapitalisation and management change it has signalled a tighter focus on structured secured property finance.
Where they fit in a lower-mid-market raise
Recognise fits at the smaller, secured end of the lower-mid-market: a single property-backed facility roughly in the £0.25m–£7.5m range where the borrower wants a relationship bank rather than a broker-fed fund. They are strongest where there is clear UK real-estate security (owner-occupied trading premises, a commercial investment asset, or a bridge-to-term on a property acquisition or refinance), a two-year-plus trading record, and a defined exit. Their balance-sheet funding and relationship-manager model suit a CFO who values speed, a named decision-maker and bank-grade documentation over the absolute keenest price. In a 3–15m raise they typically sit at the lower half of the range and only where property security carries the credit.
Where they are not the fit
They do not provide unsecured or cash-flow / EBITDA-leverage lending, growth or acquisition debt without hard property security, or anything resembling unitranche, mezzanine or sponsor leveraged finance. The upper third of a 3–15m raise stretches them: commercial mortgages run to roughly £7.5m at the top and only on case-by-case underwrite, so a £10m+ corporate facility is out of scope. As a small bank still working through a strategic transition, they are also a poor fit for borrowers needing large, committed, multi-currency or syndicated lines, or highly bespoke structured credit. Pure non-property trading businesses should look elsewhere.
Published terms
- Pricing
- Commercial Standard Variable Rate ~9.50% post fixed period; fixed and variable available; bps-over-base spread not disclosed
- Speed to terms
- Not published
- Sponsored or sponsorless
- Sponsorless (corporate or owner-managed only)
- Where they lend
- England, Wales, Scotland; borrower UK/IoM/Channel Islands
- How they decide
- Direct + broker channel; relationship-managed manual underwriting
- Covenants
- Maintenance covenants, tested every period
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.
The desks that lend
Recognise Bank lends through 2 separate books. Which one reads a deal decides the security, the covenant package and the band, so the question is rarely whether Recognise Bank lends, but which of these would own it.
Commercial mortgage
- Facility
- £250k to £7.5m
- Security
- Fixed charge
- Covenants
- Maintenance covenants, tested every period
- Funds
- Acquisition · Growth · Refinance
- Rules out
- EBITDA/cash-flow LBO leverage (property-loan to value led only)
Bridging / short-term
- Facility
- £250k to £10m
- Security
- Fixed charge
- Funds
- Acquisition · Refinance
- Rules out
- Term <=24 months
Limits that apply across the firm
Stated limits, taken from Recognise Bank’s own published criteria, beyond the ones each desk carries above. A limit is where a lender starts from, not where it always ends: several of these move on a strong enough credit.
- No appetite in adult, crypto, gambling or weapons
How they sit against the category
- Its published ceiling is £10m; 28 of the 42 challenger and specialist banks here go at least as high.
- 18 of the 42 publish an indicative price at all; it is one of them.
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 Recognise Bank write?
Published facilities run £250k to £10m. A band is what a lender states it will do, not what it will do on a given credit.
Does Recognise Bank lend to companies without a private-equity sponsor?
Yes. Recognise Bank lends to owner-managed and corporate borrowers, and publishes no private-equity sponsor proposition.
Where does Recognise Bank lend?
Recognise Bank lends in England, Wales, Scotland; borrower UK/IoM/Channel Islands.
What covenants does Recognise Bank set?
Maintenance covenants, tested every period. A covenant package is negotiated on the facility; the published style is where the negotiation starts.
What does Recognise Bank lend?
The published product set is commercial mortgage, bridging / short-term.
On the record
Recognise Bank Limited is authorised by the PRA and regulated by the FCA and PRA under firm reference number 849404; eligible deposits are FSCS-protected up to £85,000.
Recognise received its banking licence and launched banking operations in 2021; it is registered in England and Wales (company no. 10603119), registered office Augustine House, 6a Austin Friars, London.
Recognise was previously part of City of London Group PLC and simplified its corporate structure at the end of 2022; it is now privately held and not a subsidiary of any other banking organisation.
Commercial mortgages are offered from £250,000 up to £3m (maximum up to £7.5m subject to circumstances), up to 70% LTV, fixed terms to 5 years and repayment profiles to 25 years, for owner-occupied and investment property including retail, warehouse and mixed-use.
Bridging loans range from £250,000 to £10m, up to 75% LTV (residential) / 70% LTV (commercial), terms up to 24 months, for purchase, refinance or capital raise; borrowers must have traded a minimum of two years.
Recognise has reported surpassing £300m of lending and attracting around £450m of savings deposits, funding its lending from deposits.
In 2025 Recognise secured a c.£25m investment (Parasol V27) alongside a leadership transition, supporting a repositioning toward structured property finance over a 12–18 month restructuring targeting return on equity at or above 10%.
Recognise expanded its lending team in 2025, hiring four lending managers as part of around 66% growth in the lending team over six months.
Sources: recognisebank.co.uk · ffnews.com · fintechfutures.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.