Oakbrook named Consumer Lending Provider of the Year at the 2026 Credit & Collections Industry Awards

Oakbrook has been named Consumer Lending Provider of the Year at the 2026 Credit & Collections Industry Awards, recognising the company's work to expand access to fairer, simpler borrowing for UK customers underserved by mainstream lenders.

The judging panel highlighted Oakbrook's product offering and the clear benefits delivered through customer service, pointing to the breadth of innovation across the company's lending portfolio and the measurable outcomes for the customers it serves.

Founded in 2011, Oakbrook is a specialist UK consumer lender focused on borrowers whose credit files may not fully reflect their financial circumstances. Through its consumer brands Oakbrook Loans and OakbrookAdvance, and its debt consolidation product OakbrookOne, the company has built a model designed around simpler products, fairer credit assessment, and responsible expansion of access to credit.

OakbrookOne, the company's purpose-built debt consolidation loan, has delivered over £50 million in lending to date. Customers reduce their monthly repayments by an average of £110, and more than 40% have their existing debts settled and funds disbursed on the same day as approval. 30% of OakbrookOne offers are made to customers receiving no other offers in the market, a direct measure of the product's role in improving financial inclusion.

Alongside product innovation, Oakbrook has invested heavily in improving credit assessment through AI. The company's in-house data science team recently launched an AI-powered credit scorecard designed to identify creditworthy borrowers who may be overlooked by traditional credit models, allowing Oakbrook to responsibly expand access to credit while maintaining strong affordability standards.

Claire Smith, Marketing Director at Oakbrook, said:

"We're delighted to have been recognised as Consumer Lending Provider of the Year.

What matters most to us is that this reflects the impact we’re having for customers who are often overlooked by mainstream lenders. We’ve spent a lot of time focused on making borrowing feel simpler, clearer and more manageable - whether that’s fewer payments to juggle, faster decisions, or products designed around real customer situations rather than just credit scores.

The fact the judges recognised both our product innovation and the customer outcomes means a huge amount to the team.

We’ve made strong progress, particularly with OakbrookOne and the work we’re doing around AI-powered credit assessment, but we still see a big opportunity to improve how borrowing works for underserved customers. This award is a brilliant milestone, but there’s a lot more we want to do."

Dr Jamie Ownsworth, Head of Data Science at Oakbrook, added:

"Better outcomes for customers start with better decisions. Our latest scorecard helps us see borrowers more completely, not just what their credit file says, but who they actually are today.

That allows us to responsibly extend credit to people the mainstream market often overlooks, and to do it in a way that supports sustainable borrowing.”

The award reflects Oakbrook's broader strategy to simplify and personalise borrowing for UK consumers who require a more accessible approach to credit, underpinned by the proprietary technology and analytics capability the company has built since 2011.