Handelsbanken keeps growing in the UK

In the second quarter, the bank’s total UK lending rose a further 14 per cent to £14.6 bn, while total UK deposits are up by nine per cent to £8.3 bn.

The branch-based bank has been growing rapidly in Britain, grabbing market share from competitors still struggling to get their houses in order after the financial crisis.

It has 21 branches in Yorkshire.

Handelsbanken promotes itself by word of mouth rather than national marketing campaigns and claims to follow a traditional approach to banking with local teams looking after local customers and making credit decisions in branches.

The 143-year-old lender also prides itself on its decentralised model which it says helps it to achieve a better average return on equity - a key measure of profitability - than many of its peers.