RBS unveils design of first Polymer £20 note

Royal Bank of Scotland has unveiled the design of its first £20 polymer note featuring the image of historic Scottish entrepreneur Kate Cranston at her legendary tearoom in Glasgow, Mackintosh at the Willow.

Designed in partnership with leading Scottish arts’ organisations and designers including Graven Images, Nile, Stucco, Timrous Beasties, O’Street and the Glasgow School of Art, the note, which will enter circulation in 2020, will be the first £20 Scottish banknote to feature a woman other than the Queen, on its front.

The £20 is the third in a series of ‘Fabric of Nature’ themed notes made from a De La Rue’s Safeguard polymer material and will also contain a variety of new security features, making it difficult to counterfeit but easy to authenticate.

In designing the new notes, Royal Bank of Scotland launched the People’s Money programme and engaged with thousands of people across Scotland through workshops, online communities and polling surveys.

As a result, ‘Fabric of Nature’ was chosen as the theme. The choice of Kate Cranston to feature on the £20 note was taken by the Royal Bank of Scotland Scottish Board.

Speaking at the launch, Royal Bank of Scotland’s Scottish board chair Malcolm Buchanan, said: “At Royal Bank of Scotland, we feel that a banknote’s value is more than just the figure printed across its front - it is our symbol which lives in people’s pockets and touches everyday lives.

“Kate Cranston’s legacy touches so many aspects of Scottish life that we, as a nation, are justifiably proud; entrepreneurialism, art, philanthropy and dedication.

“Choosing the design of the £20 note was an important decision for it is Royal Bank of Scotland’s biggest circulating note, with £736m currently in circulation.

“As such, it is fitting that such a figure as Kate Cranston will be celebrated on the face of our most popular note.”

In keeping with the Fabric of Nature theme, the new £20 features illustrations of red squirrels on its reverse and also features the blaeberry fruit. It also includes extracts from 16th century Scottish poet Mark Alexander Boyd’s work, Cupid and Venus.

Kate Cranston, from Glasgow, made her mark for her series of tearooms across the city.

Her flagship venue at 217 Sauchiehall Street, is celebrated by architects and designers due to the interior designed by Charles Rennie Mackintosh.

The tearooms made a cultural impact during her life due to offering venues where women could enter unchaperoned. Following her death in 1934, her fortune was left to support the poor and the homeless in the city.

Royal Bank of Scotland has been issuing banknotes since 1727 and has an average of £1.5bn worth of notes in circulation on a single day. The £20 note is the bank’s biggest circulating note, with £736m currently in circulation.