Allica Bank has reported a 235% increase in commercial mortgage applications since June.

It has increased its operational capacity in order to support £100 million in lending over the next quarter. The bank has quadrupled both its underwriting headcount and the number of lending support officers it employs since June 2020 and has also increased its number of customer service advisers by 25% over the same period.

Allica’s recent broker survey showed that 99% of brokers rated the overall Allica broker experience as ‘excellent’ or ‘good’ and 92% of brokers rated Allica BRMs as ‘very good’ or ‘excellent’.

Following feedback from brokers, Allica Bank has also made a number of changes to its introducer portal.

Nick Baker (pictured), head of intermediaries at Allica Bank, said: “The support available for our broker partners seeking funding for small businesses, outside of Covid loan schemes, has fallen drastically this year and looks set to drop further. Our message to the broker community is simple – we are here to support you and are on hand to fill the significant funding gap that has emerged.

“Our current lending levels show that there is still huge demand in the market from SMEs and that’s why we’ve been dramatically increasing lending capacity and working closely with brokers to ensure that this funding is reaching the businesses that need it.

“We’ve also raised our headcount significantly, to ensure that we can continue to deliver swift lending decisions which are made on clear and consistent criteria.

“Allica is very much open for business and in a strong position to continue to work collaboratively with brokers and SMEs to ensure they get the support they require.”