What is the NatWest High Growth IP Loan?

Full Explanation

The NatWest High Growth IP Loan, launched in January 2024 and available to limited companies and LLPs in England and Wales, was described by NatWest as a market first for lending against intellectual property. It lends from £250k up to 50% of the IP value confirmed in an independent Inngot valuation, with the IP revalued annually. In Scotland, the Royal Bank of Scotland has offered loans of £250k to £10m against up to 50% of the IP's orderly disposal value since June 2026. It is aimed at growth businesses whose value sits largely in intangibles rather than in property or plant that a bank could take as conventional security.

Eligibility centres on demonstrable high growth. In broad terms, NatWest looks for around 20% year-on-year turnover growth over three years on a minimum turnover of £250k, and/or at least £50k of equity or grant investment received in the preceding two years. Importantly, IP lending is positioned as a fallback: the bank will look to conventional security first, and treats the IP as the supporting collateral where that conventional security is insufficient. The annual revaluation means your borrowing base is re-tested over the life of the facility, so a decline in the IP's assessed value can affect available headroom.

As with any credit-standard IP facility, the bank will expect clean, unencumbered legal title with a documented chain of title, an independent IP audit, evidence that rights are in force with renewals paid, and encumbrance searches at both Companies House and the UK IPO. Any charge taken over the IP must be registered at Companies House within 21 days under section 859A of the Companies Act 2006, or it is void against a liquidator, an administrator and the company's creditors (section 859H). Registered patents and trade marks carry more weight than unregistered know-how.

Above all, this is cash-flow lending with IP as security, not lending on the IP alone. Operating cash flow remains the primary repayment source, and the bank will test serviceability, commonly seeking a debt service coverage ratio of around 1.20-1.25 times, alongside historical accounts and a forecast. If you are considering applying, the most useful preparation is an evidence-backed IP pack, a lending-premise valuation, graded title evidence and a clear serviceability case, so the annual revaluation and credit assessment both start from a defensible position.

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