Trust bank eyes acquisitions as customer base doubles

SPECIALIST lender Hampshire Trust Bank is hunting for acquisitions as it ramps up expansion after more than doubling its customer base.

Chief executive Mark Sismey-Durrant revealed the group was on the lookout for deals at the right price to support ambitious growth plans.

The challenger bank, which focuses on lending to small and medium-sized businesses, ended 2016 with more than 16,000 customers, up from around 7,500 a year earlier. Around 6,000 of those were signed up in the last six months, boosted by the launch of an online savings platform at the end of 2016.

It now has around 11,000 individual and business savers. Mr Sismey-Durrant said the bank had grown organically until now, but was keen to secure a deal to grow its balance sheet.

He said while previous potential bid targets had been too expensive, the group would consider “acquisition opportunities” if the price was right.

“Acquisitions are an effective way of putting on balance sheet growth,” he said.

Hampshire Trust moved into larger London headquarters earlier this month in the latest stage of its growth plans. The firm was founded in 1977, but relaunched after it was acquired in May 2014 by a new management team with the backing of private equity firm Alchemy.