What is the NatWest High Growth IP Loan?
Short Answer
The NatWest High Growth IP Loan lends £250k to £10m against intellectual property at up to around 50% of independently appraised value, revalued annually. It was the first such facility from a UK high-street bank.
Full Explanation
The NatWest High Growth IP Loan, launched in January 2024, was the first facility from a UK high-street bank to lend directly against intellectual property. It provides between £250k and £10m at up to around 50% of the independently appraised value of the IP, with that IP valued and then revalued annually by an independent valuer. 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 or administrator. 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.
Try It Yourself
Related Glossary Terms
Related Questions
EBITDA (Earnings Before Interest, Tax, Depreciation, and Amortisation) strips out financing and accounting decisions to show a company's core operatio...
Typically up to around half your independently appraised IP value, so a £4m valuation might support a facility of roughly £2m, subject to your cash fl...
Indicatively, IP loan-to-value runs from around 20-40% in the broader market up to roughly 50% for registered, insurance-backed rights, against an ord...
Want to see these concepts in action?
Discover how Opagio Intangibles puts intangible asset theory into practice.