# Oxbury
Oxbury Bank Plc (Oxbury) is a British agricultural fintech bank based in Chester that lends to farmers, food producers, and rural businesses, and, per the company, the only UK bank dedicated solely to the rural economy.[1](https://www.british-business-bank.co.uk/news-and-events/news/british-business-bank-agrees-ps100m-enable-guarantee-transaction-specialist-agricultural-bank) Launched as a fully regulated bank in February 2021, it combines a proprietary digital banking platform, OxburyEarth, with dedicated agricultural relationship managers, and reported its first full-year profit for 2023.[1](https://www.british-business-bank.co.uk/news-and-events/news/british-business-bank-agrees-ps100m-enable-guarantee-transaction-specialist-agricultural-bank) • [2](https://www.oxbury.com/blog/oxbury-achieves-first-full-year-of-profitability-just-three-years-since-launch-press-release/)
| Key fact | Detail |
| --- | --- |
| Founded | 2018, by James Coates, James Farrar, and Nick Evans[3](https://uk.finance.yahoo.com/news/oxbury-bank-20million-fundraising-launch-farming-brexit-agriculture-060054221.html) |
| Headquarters | Chester, United Kingdom[1](https://www.british-business-bank.co.uk/news-and-events/news/british-business-bank-agrees-ps100m-enable-guarantee-transaction-specialist-agricultural-bank) |
| Sector | Agricultural fintech banking (farm lending, asset finance, savings)[1](https://www.british-business-bank.co.uk/news-and-events/news/british-business-bank-agrees-ps100m-enable-guarantee-transaction-specialist-agricultural-bank) |
| Banking authorization | PRA-authorized, FCA and PRA regulated, Financial Services Register number 834822; provisional license January 2020[1](https://www.british-business-bank.co.uk/news-and-events/news/british-business-bank-agrees-ps100m-enable-guarantee-transaction-specialist-agricultural-bank) • [3](https://uk.finance.yahoo.com/news/oxbury-bank-20million-fundraising-launch-farming-brexit-agriculture-060054221.html) |
| Capital raised | Over £100m by end-2023 per the company; in excess of £120m per the British Business Bank[2](https://www.oxbury.com/blog/oxbury-achieves-first-full-year-of-profitability-just-three-years-since-launch-press-release/) • [1](https://www.british-business-bank.co.uk/news-and-events/news/british-business-bank-agrees-ps100m-enable-guarantee-transaction-specialist-agricultural-bank) |
| Notable investors | British Business Investments, Grosvenor Food & AgTech (led the July 2022 Series C)[4](https://www.british-business-bank.co.uk/news-and-events/news/oxbury-bank-britains-first-and-only-agtech-bank-secures-new-funding-as-it-continues-rapid-lending-growth) • [5](https://www.grosvenor.com/news-insights/grosvenor-food-agtech-follow-on-funding-for-leading-uk-agricultural-bank-oxbury) |
| FY23 results (company-reported) | Drawn lending £606m; deposits £1.06bn; pre-tax profit over £3m[2](https://www.oxbury.com/blog/oxbury-achieves-first-full-year-of-profitability-just-three-years-since-launch-press-release/) |
| Status | Operating and profitable as of its most recent reported results (FY2023)[2](https://www.oxbury.com/blog/oxbury-achieves-first-full-year-of-profitability-just-three-years-since-launch-press-release/) |
## What Oxbury does
Oxbury provides lending and asset finance tailored to farm businesses, including working capital for day-to-day farm costs and term loans for larger purchases such as machinery.[1](https://www.british-business-bank.co.uk/news-and-events/news/british-business-bank-agrees-ps100m-enable-guarantee-transaction-specialist-agricultural-bank) • [3](https://uk.finance.yahoo.com/news/oxbury-bank-20million-fundraising-launch-farming-brexit-agriculture-060054221.html) It funds these loans partly with instant-access savings deposits from farm businesses and from consumers who want to support the rural economy.[1](https://www.british-business-bank.co.uk/news-and-events/news/british-business-bank-agrees-ps100m-enable-guarantee-transaction-specialist-agricultural-bank) The company describes itself as the first bank of its kind to be set up in the past two centuries, founded by bankers, farmers, agricultural businesses, and technologists.[6](https://www.oxbury.com/about-us/)
## Founding and founders
James Coates, James Farrar, and Nick Evans co-founded Oxbury in 2018. Coates worked at the UK's Financial Conduct Authority before moving into farming through succession planning, and manages about 1,500 acres in [Oxfordshire](https://www.edgepedia.org/oxfordshire) growing cereals, oil seeds, and pulses. Farrar had previously helped set up the startup bank [ClearBank](https://www.edgepedia.org/clearbank), and Evans was a former director of [Bank of Scotland](https://www.edgepedia.org/bank-of-scotland)'s agricultural team.[3](https://uk.finance.yahoo.com/news/oxbury-bank-20million-fundraising-launch-farming-brexit-agriculture-060054221.html) Farrar is the company's Chief Executive Officer.[2](https://www.oxbury.com/blog/oxbury-achieves-first-full-year-of-profitability-just-three-years-since-launch-press-release/)
## Licensing and regulatory status
Oxbury secured a provisional banking license in January 2020, having raised £15 million to fund its development before launch, and began lending in February 2021 as a fully regulated bank.[3](https://uk.finance.yahoo.com/news/oxbury-bank-20million-fundraising-launch-farming-brexit-agriculture-060054221.html) • [1](https://www.british-business-bank.co.uk/news-and-events/news/british-business-bank-agrees-ps100m-enable-guarantee-transaction-specialist-agricultural-bank) Oxbury Bank Plc is authorized by the [Prudential Regulation Authority](https://www.edgepedia.org/prudential-regulation-authority) and regulated by the [Financial Conduct Authority](https://www.edgepedia.org/financial-conduct-authority) and the Prudential Regulation Authority, with Financial Services Register number 834822.[1](https://www.british-business-bank.co.uk/news-and-events/news/british-business-bank-agrees-ps100m-enable-guarantee-transaction-specialist-agricultural-bank)
## Funding and investors
The record of reported financing is as follows:
- £15 million raised before launch to fund development, with a further £20 million in prospect at that time.[3](https://uk.finance.yahoo.com/news/oxbury-bank-20million-fundraising-launch-farming-brexit-agriculture-060054221.html)
- July 2022: a £20 million Core Tier 1 equity raise, a Series C led by Grosvenor Food & AgTech, which brought total capital raised and secured to £93 million.[4](https://www.british-business-bank.co.uk/news-and-events/news/oxbury-bank-britains-first-and-only-agtech-bank-secures-new-funding-as-it-continues-rapid-lending-growth) • [5](https://www.grosvenor.com/news-insights/grosvenor-food-agtech-follow-on-funding-for-leading-uk-agricultural-bank-oxbury)
- August 2022: a £25 million Tier 2 capital facility from British Business Investments, a wholly-owned commercial subsidiary of the British Business Bank, which the bank said supported over £100 million of additional SME farming and food lending.[4](https://www.british-business-bank.co.uk/news-and-events/news/oxbury-bank-britains-first-and-only-agtech-bank-secures-new-funding-as-it-continues-rapid-lending-growth) • [1](https://www.british-business-bank.co.uk/news-and-events/news/british-business-bank-agrees-ps100m-enable-guarantee-transaction-specialist-agricultural-bank)
- 2023: £24 million of new equity capital from new and existing investors, which the company said brought total capital raised to over £100 million by end-2023.[2](https://www.oxbury.com/blog/oxbury-achieves-first-full-year-of-profitability-just-three-years-since-launch-press-release/)
- November 2023: a £100 million ENABLE Guarantee transaction agreed with the British Business Bank on 1 November 2023, since extended to £200 million.[1](https://www.british-business-bank.co.uk/news-and-events/news/british-business-bank-agrees-ps100m-enable-guarantee-transaction-specialist-agricultural-bank) • [2](https://www.oxbury.com/blog/oxbury-achieves-first-full-year-of-profitability-just-three-years-since-launch-press-release/)
- Later: the UK government-backed capital facility was raised to £35 million, according to an undated trade-press report.[7](https://prfintech.com/oxbury-bank-raises-uk-government-backed-capital-facility-to-35-million/)
The total capital raised is reported differently by the two best-placed sources: Oxbury itself states over £100 million at end-2023, while the British Business Bank stated in November 2023 that Oxbury had raised in excess of £120 million since inception. The discrepancy is unresolved in the record.[2](https://www.oxbury.com/blog/oxbury-achieves-first-full-year-of-profitability-just-three-years-since-launch-press-release/) • [1](https://www.british-business-bank.co.uk/news-and-events/news/british-business-bank-agrees-ps100m-enable-guarantee-transaction-specialist-agricultural-bank)
## Business, products and traction
Oxbury launched with working capital facilities and term loans for farm businesses, and in 2023 added instant-access savings products and asset finance lending alongside its existing loan, working capital, and savings products.[3](https://uk.finance.yahoo.com/news/oxbury-bank-20million-fundraising-launch-farming-brexit-agriculture-060054221.html) • [5](https://www.grosvenor.com/news-insights/grosvenor-food-agtech-follow-on-funding-for-leading-uk-agricultural-bank-oxbury) Its New Gen lending program funds new-entrant farmers aged 18 to 40 for purchases from land to livestock, with farm business advice and funding of up to 100%; the company says it has helped establish and grow 50 new farms.[2](https://www.oxbury.com/blog/oxbury-achieves-first-full-year-of-profitability-just-three-years-since-launch-press-release/) • [5](https://www.grosvenor.com/news-insights/grosvenor-food-agtech-follow-on-funding-for-leading-uk-agricultural-bank-oxbury)
By August 2022 the bank reported £650 million of completed or in-progress lending since launch, with a target to lend £1 billion by 2024.[4](https://www.british-business-bank.co.uk/news-and-events/news/oxbury-bank-britains-first-and-only-agtech-bank-secures-new-funding-as-it-continues-rapid-lending-growth) By November 2023 it had exceeded £750 million in total committed and in-progress lending, attracted £1 billion in savings deposits, and reached break-even profitability.[1](https://www.british-business-bank.co.uk/news-and-events/news/british-business-bank-agrees-ps100m-enable-guarantee-transaction-specialist-agricultural-bank)
Company-reported FY2023 figures: drawn lending grew 74% to £606 million (FY22: £349 million); customer deposits grew 240% to £1.06 billion (FY22: £441 million); net interest income grew 341% to £19.4 million (FY22: £5.7 million); borrowing customers roughly doubled to close to 3,000; and pre-tax profit exceeded £3 million in the bank's first profitable full year, three years after launch. Credit costs represented less than 0.1% of total lending. These figures are the company's own reported results.[2](https://www.oxbury.com/blog/oxbury-achieves-first-full-year-of-profitability-just-three-years-since-launch-press-release/)
## How it compares with other agricultural lenders
Oxbury positions itself as the only UK bank 100% dedicated to the rural economy, a claim it makes on its own site and which the British Business Bank repeats in describing it as the only UK bank with a singular focus on farmers, food production, and the rural economy.[6](https://www.oxbury.com/about-us/) • [1](https://www.british-business-bank.co.uk/news-and-events/news/british-business-bank-agrees-ps100m-enable-guarantee-transaction-specialist-agricultural-bank) The company states that its FY23 total facilities in place, exceeding £686 million, amounted to about a 3% share of a £21 billion UK agricultural lending market; asset finance balances grew to about £70 million. This is a company estimate of its market position rather than an independent measurement.[2](https://www.oxbury.com/blog/oxbury-achieves-first-full-year-of-profitability-just-three-years-since-launch-press-release/)
## Recent developments
After the November 2023 ENABLE Guarantee, the transaction was extended to £200 million and, according to the company, supported over £140 million of finance for around 170 rural-economy businesses in its first six months. The government-backed capital facility was subsequently raised to £35 million.[2](https://www.oxbury.com/blog/oxbury-achieves-first-full-year-of-profitability-just-three-years-since-launch-press-release/) • [7](https://prfintech.com/oxbury-bank-raises-uk-government-backed-capital-facility-to-35-million/) Grosvenor Food & AgTech has made a follow-on investment in Oxbury beyond its Series C leadership.[5](https://www.grosvenor.com/news-insights/grosvenor-food-agtech-follow-on-funding-for-leading-uk-agricultural-bank-oxbury) No independently reported acquisitions, leadership changes, or strategic shifts appear in the record. Unverified directory data from Tracxn lists a Series C round on 29 January 2024 and a conventional debt round on 13 April 2026, totalling $137 million across nine rounds, but these entries are not corroborated by official or journalistic sources and should be treated as unconfirmed.[8](https://tracxn.com/d/companies/oxbury/__hDTxztB9Ri7lJHRhqD-F5rRHcjQJGJiLEFTH_RDshEw/funding-and-investors)
## References
1. [British Business Bank agrees £100m ENABLE Guarantee transaction with specialist agricultural bank Oxbury](https://www.british-business-bank.co.uk/news-and-events/news/british-business-bank-agrees-ps100m-enable-guarantee-transaction-specialist-agricultural-bank)
2. [Oxbury achieves first full year of profitability just three years since launch - Press Release](https://www.oxbury.com/blog/oxbury-achieves-first-full-year-of-profitability-just-three-years-since-launch-press-release/)
3. ['Bank for farmers' Oxbury close to raising £20m to fund launch](https://uk.finance.yahoo.com/news/oxbury-bank-20million-fundraising-launch-farming-brexit-agriculture-060054221.html)
4. [Oxbury Bank, Britain's first and only AgTech bank, secures new funding as it continues rapid lending growth](https://www.british-business-bank.co.uk/news-and-events/news/oxbury-bank-britains-first-and-only-agtech-bank-secures-new-funding-as-it-continues-rapid-lending-growth)
5. [Grosvenor Food & AgTech follow-on funding for leading UK agricultural bank Oxbury](https://www.grosvenor.com/news-insights/grosvenor-food-agtech-follow-on-funding-for-leading-uk-agricultural-bank-oxbury)
6. [The only UK bank dedicated to the rural economy | Oxbury](https://www.oxbury.com/about-us/)
7. [Oxbury Bank Raises UK Government-Backed Capital Facility to £35 Million](https://prfintech.com/oxbury-bank-raises-uk-government-backed-capital-facility-to-35-million/)
8. [Oxbury - Funding & Investors (Tracxn)](https://tracxn.com/d/companies/oxbury/__hDTxztB9Ri7lJHRhqD-F5rRHcjQJGJiLEFTH_RDshEw/funding-and-investors)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Society and history › Economics and business › Business and work › Business and work overview › Companies and corporations › Venture-backed startups and growth companies › Fintech, commerce, and consumer startups › Lending, credit, and neobanks › NBFCs and specialized lenders*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Edited: Oct 11, 2026; Oct 15, 2026; Oct 21, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license