NatWest

NatWest is one of the UKs four largest retail and commercial Banks and co-produces the annual NatWest Startup Index in partnership with Beauhurst, a data report tracking the state of UK startup formation, investment, and growth. The bank appeared in the briefing cycle through the data from this report.

NatWest Group is headquartered in Edinburgh and is majority owned by the UK Government following a bailout during the 2008 financial crisis, though the governments stake has been progressively reduced through share sales. The bank operates under the NatWest, Royal Bank of Scotland, and Ulster Bank brands and employs approximately 60,000 people. Its commercial banking division serves a large proportion of UK SMEs and startup companies, giving it both a commercial interest in startup ecosystem health and access to proprietary data on company formation and early-stage financial behaviour.

The NatWest Startup Index is produced primarily as a brand and relationship tool for the Banks innovation and high-growth business division, but the data is sufficiently comprehensive to be cited in policy and academic contexts. For startup founders, NatWest represents both a banking option and a data point: the Banks willingness to lend to and invest in early-stage companies has historically been more limited than Challenger Banks and specialist lenders.