The owners of Shawbrook Group, the mid-sized British lender, are drawing up plans to kickstart London’s moribund listings arena with a stock market flotation, valuing it at more than £2bn.

Sky News has learnt that BC Partners and Pollen Street Capital, which took Shawbrook private in 2017, are close to appointing Goldman Sachs to oversee work on a potential initial public offering.

Other investment banks, possibly including Barclays, are expected to be added in the near future.

Shawbrook’s shareholders are said to be keen to take the company public during the first half of this year.

People close to the situation cautioned that no decision to proceed with a listing had been taken, and that it would be dependent upon market conditions.

If it does go ahead, Shawbrook would almost certainly rank among the largest companies to list in London during the first half of 2025.

Bankers and investors are also waiting to see whether British regulators give the green light to a flotation for Shein, the Chinese-founded online fashion giant, which would be one of the City’s biggest-ever floats if it takes place.

Overall, London is fighting to overturn the impression that its public markets have become a troubled arena for public companies, afflicted by a lack of liquidity and weaker valuations than they might attract in the US.

In recent months, that perception has intensified with the decision of Ashtead, the FTSE-100 equipment rental company, to move its primary listing to New York.

Shawbrook, which employs close to 1,600 people, has 550,000 customers.

Founded in 2011, it was established as a specialist savings and lending institution, providing loans for home improvement projects and weddings, as well as business and real estate lending.

It is among a crop of mid-tier lenders, including OneSavings Bank, Aldermore Bank and Paragon Bank, which have collectively become a significant part of Britain’s banking landscape since the last financial crisis.

The bid to take Shawbrook public this year will come a year after its owners were reported to have hired Bank of America and Morgan Stanley to explore a sale or listing.

It explored a similar process in 2022 but abandoned it amid volatile market conditions.

The company has also sought to position itself at the heart of potential consolidation among the sector’s leading players.

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In the autumn of 2023, Shawbrook approached Metro Bank about a possible takeover as the latter bank battled to stay afloat.

A series of proposals was rejected by Metro Bank’s board.

Just weeks earlier, Shawbrook sounded out the Co-operative Bank about a £3.5bn all-share merger in an attempt to pre-empt a wider auction of the former mutually owned lender.

That, too, was rebuffed, with the Co-operative Bank completing its sale to the Coventry Building Society this week.

Third-quarter results for Shawbrook released to bondholders in November disclosed 18% growth in its loan book on an annualised basis to just over £15bn.

BC Partners and Pollen Street own equal stakes in Shawbrook, with its management team also owning a minority.

The bank is run by chief executive Marcelino Castrillo.

“We continue to see promising opportunities for expansion and value creation across our core markets, including SME and real estate,” Mr Castrillo said in November.

“The combination of an exceptional customer franchise, a more stable macroeconomic outlook and increasing customer confidence means we are well-positioned to continue to deliver on our strategic ambitions throughout the remainder of 2024 and beyond.”

This weekend, Shawbrook, BC Partners and Pollen Street all declined to comment.

Donald Trump has said the UK is making “a very big mistake” in its fossil fuel policy – and should “get rid of windmills”.

In a post on Friday on his social media platform, Truth Social, Mr Trump shared news from November of a US oil producer pulling out of the North Sea, a major oil-producing region off the Scottish coast.

“The UK is making a very big mistake. Open up the North Sea. Get rid of windmills!”, the US president-elect wrote.

The Texan oil producer Apache said at the time it was withdrawing from the North Sea by 2029 in part due to the increase in windfall tax on fossil fuel producers.

The head of Apache’s parent company APA Corporation said in early November it had concluded the investment required to comply with UK regulations, “coupled with the onerous financial impact of the energy profits levy [windfall tax] makes production of hydrocarbons beyond the year 2029 uneconomic”.

Chief executive John Christmann added that “substantial investment” will be necessary to comply with regulatory requirements.

Mr Trump used a three-word campaign pledge “drill, baby, drill” during his successful election campaign, claiming he will increase oil and gas production during his second administration.

In the October budget announcement, UK Chancellor Rachel Reeves raised the windfall tax levied on profits of energy producers to 38%.

Called the energy price levy, it is a rise from the 25% introduced by Rishi Sunak in 2022 as energy prices soared following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Many oil and gas businesses reported record profits in the wake of the price hike.

The tax was intended to support households struggling with high gas and electricity bills amid a broader cost of living crisis.

Apache is just one of a glut of firms that made decisions to alter their North Sea extraction due to the Labour policy.

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Even before the new government was elected, three companies, Jersey Oil and Gas, Serica Energy and Neo Energy – announced they were delaying, by a year, the planned start of production at the Buchan oilfield 120 miles to the north-east of Aberdeen.

Tide, the business banking services platform, has hired advisers to orchestrate a fresh share sale as it pursues rapid growth in the UK and overseas.

Sky News understands that Tide has been holding talks with investment banks including Morgan Stanley about launching a primary fundraising worth in excess of £50m in the coming months.

The share sale may include both issuing new stock and enabling existing investors to participate by offloading part of their holdings, according to insiders.

It was unclear at what valuation any new funding would be raised.

Tide was founded in 2015 by George Bevis and Errol Damelin, before launching two years later.

It describes itself as the leading business financial platform in the UK, offering business accounts and related banking services.

The company also provides its 650,000 SME ‘members’ in the UK a set of connected administrative solutions from invoicing to accounting.

It now boasts a roughly 11% market share in Britain, along with 400,000 SMEs in India.

Tide, which employs about 2,000 people, also launched in Germany last May.

The company’s investors include Apax Partners, Augmentum Fintech and LocalGlobe.

Chaired by the City grandee Sir Donald Brydon.

Tide declined to comment on Friday.