Suros Capital lends £200k against luxury watches to fund refurbishment

Suros Capital has completed a £200,000 bridging loan for a Surrey-based property developer, secured against a collection of luxury watches rather than property.

The borrower, a returning client, needed the funds to complete a property refurbishment. The six-month loan will be repaid from the sale of the finished property.

Speed through repeat business

Suros had already assessed and valued the borrower's Rolex and Patek Philippe watches as part of an earlier loan. That meant it could release the full £200,000 within 24 hours of the request.

We had already valued his collection for an earlier loan.

Director Ray Palmer said the client had used Suros before and knew how easily it could provide the finance he needed. Because the collection had already been valued, lending against it again was simple.

An alternative to property security

Most bridging loans are secured on property. That usually means a valuation, legal work on the title and a charge registered on the land. Asset-backed lenders like Suros instead lend against high-value items such as watches, jewellery, classic cars and art, which are typically held in secure storage for the term of the loan.

For property developers, this can be a useful option when speed matters or when they would rather not add another charge to a project. The loan can be arranged quickly because there is no property valuation or conveyancing involved. The borrower gets their assets back once the loan is repaid.

In this case, the approach let the developer keep the refurbishment moving without waiting on a traditional property-backed facility, with a clear exit once the property is sold.