Santander increased lending to small and medium-sized firms in the East Midlands by 45 per cent to £181 million in the first half of the year.
The Spanish bank, which bought Alliance & Leicester in 2008, said the expansion was part of its plan to become the UK’s best-known SME lender.
UK pre-tax profit was £725 million in the six months to June 30, up 32 per cent.
The company said the rise in profits came after results in the same period of 2011 were dented by provisions for payment protection insurance mis-selling claims.
Santander, which has a major operation in Carlton Park, Narborough, said it had a 12.8 per cent share of the UK’s mortgage market.
The overall bank, which is the eurozone’s biggest, said first-half profits halved to £1.3 billion.
Ana Botín, chief executive of Santander UK, said: “Our goal is to become the SME bank of choice. To this end, lending to SMEs increased 18 per cent, we developed a broader product offering and opened five additional regional corporate business centres.
