Opening an account

Eligibility & Criteria

Can my business open an account?

You can apply for a business account if:

You apply online
You are a sole trader, a limited company (limited by shares), or a partnership (excluding limited liability partnerships)
You have no more than four shareholders
You need no more than four signatories authorised to operate the account
Your business is a UK-based business where all directors and beneficial owners of that business are aged 18 or over, resident in the UK and only tax resident in the UK
You hold a UK business current account.

If you already have a business account with us and you’d like to set up another, please get in touch.

You can contact the savings team by logging in and sending a secure message, or getting in touch by phone on 0345 266 6611.

Our team are available Monday to Friday, 9.00am - 5.00pm, excluding public holidays.

Can I open a business account if I already have a personal account?

Yes, you can open a business account if you already have a personal account. You'll need to log out of your personal account and apply for a new business account. Once we've opened your new business account, we'll merge the two accounts together and give you a new customer number that will let you access both.

See our range of business current accounts.

Can I have more than one account in the same business name?

Yes, you are welcome to take out as many accounts as you need. You can open one account online, and any for any additional accounts, you'll need to contact us.

Only one of your accounts with us can be an easy access account.

You can contact the savings team by logging in and sending a secure message, or getting in touch by phone on 0345 266 6611.

Our team are available Monday to Friday, 9.00am - 5.00pm, excluding public holidays.

Can I open accounts if I have multiple businesses?

You're welcome to open accounts for any of your businesses. However, you can't share a business account between two businesses - they'll need to have their own accounts.

My company is a charity. Do you accept charities?

Our standard accounts aren't available to charities or trusts. However, we work with the Charities Aid Foundation.

They have a range of products, some of which are provided by Shawbrook, that may suit your needs.

The application process

How do I open a business savings account?

If you're new to us, you can compare our business savings accounts, and choose the one you like. If you already have an account with us, contact us and we'll help you open an account.

You can contact the savings team by logging in and sending a secure message, or getting in touch by phone on 0345 266 6611.

Our team are available Monday to Friday, 9.00am - 5.00pm, excluding public holidays.

All our applications are subject to eligibility and verification of your identity. If we need more information from you to complete our checks and set up your account, a member of our team will be in touch within five working days from the submission of application.

What checks do you do before I can open a business savings account?

We will verify your address, identity and nominated account details before opening an account for you.

We do this by checking various electronic databases. If we are unable to verify you in this way, we may ask you to supply us with some identity documents by email or post. We will not be able to open your account until we have successfully verified your details.

Nominated accounts

What is a nominated account?

A nominated account, or linked account, is the current account that you link to your savings account with us. Any money you put into your savings needs to come from that account, and any payments or withdrawals will need to go back to that account.

Your nominated account needs to be a UK bank or building society account that can make and receive electronic payments (including faster payments, BACS and CHAPS).

You'll need to specify this account when you open your savings account. If you need to change the nominated account in the future, that's OK. Just get in touch and we'll help you change it.

Why do I need to provide nominated bank account details when I set up my business bank account?

We need you to nominate an account so we can link it to your savings account. This helps us keep your money safe by only receiving money from or sending money to one account that you've nominated.