Barclays has launched a new £500m growth fund* for small and medium-sized businesses in the North of England as part of the bank’s commitment to support the Government’s Northern Powerhouse initiative.

The new fund is available from today to inject investment into businesses across the region – including Greater Manchester – with favourable terms for manufacturing, transport and logistics companies, helping them to grow and create new jobs.

Launching the fund, Jes Staley, Barclays Group CEO, said:

“Barclays has been helping businesses across the North to succeed since the dawn of the Industrial Revolution, when we financed the world’s first steam locomotive passenger railway between Stockton and Darlington. Today, we face new economic challenges and opportunities posed by the digital revolution, the growth in competition from emerging markets, and of course, Brexit.

“The Northern Powerhouse is an initiative which, if delivered, would help the whole country to meet that challenge and take those economic opportunities. That is why I’m delighted to announce our £500 million Northern Powerhouse Growth Fund, enabling businesses across the North to invest in jobs and growth.

“As the UK prepares for Brexit, it’s vitally important that businesses, civic leaders and Government work together to make the Northern Powerhouse a reality. That means supporting entrepreneurs and businesses to succeed, but it also means providing more ways into high quality work.”

Sir Richard Leese, Deputy Mayor of Greater Manchester and board member on the Northern Powerhouse Partnership, said:

“Small and medium-sized businesses have a crucial role to play in Greater Manchester's economy. Anything which supports their growth and success, and helps us towards our goal of realising our full economic potential to create the maximum number of jobs and opportunities and help rebalance the national economy, is to be welcomed.”

Tim Pellow, managing director of ARTKO Ltd, based in Dukinfield, Greater Manchester, commented on the potential of the fund. He said:

“We started banking with Barclays in 2013 having been disillusioned with the financial support offered by our previous bank. We found the Barclays relationship director assigned to us to be in a different league and the support team in general very helpful and proactive. Barclays take a keen and genuine interest in our business, suggesting products and services suited to us and genuinely trying to support our requirements. Recent discussion on the options available to us on currency matters has helped us reduce our exposure to foreign exchange risks.

“The idea of a fund to support SMEs in the North is very welcome news and comes at a crucial time with businesses struggling with the current climate and the uncertainty over Brexit. Having a fund in place which SMEs can turn to will provide a lifeline to access funds which can be used to support and strengthen businesses in a variety of areas. Research and development for new products and markets, developing and training staff or investment in machinery/infrastructure. All areas that will strengthen businesses at a crucial time.

“We have exciting growth plans in place, the most pressing of which involves the purchase of new and larger premises. We will require assistance from Barclays if we are to commit to such a large investment and we see the fund as a great opportunity to support this project.”

Barclays has a major office in the centre of Manchester, in addition to branches in the North West region. It also has an Eagle Lab co-working space for start-ups in Salford, and its Rise site in Deansgate to foster financial technology, or “fintech”, businesses.

The new fund was announced by Jes Staley as he visited Thornton Brothers Limited, in Ashington, Northumberland. The business was founded by two brothers George and Keith Thornton in 1979, who started out with £25,000 of lending from their local Barclays branch. They have since built up the business, which now employs over 70 highly-skilled engineers who modernise fleets of buses for major transport providers across the UK, including Transport for London, Go-Ahead and First Group Ltd.

George Thornton, co-founder of Thornton Brothers Limited, said: “Our family-run business was founded 40 years ago with the help of a loan from Barclays, which is why it’s so fantastic to see a growth fund of this size being launched today to help other entrepreneurs just like us. We specialise in bus refurbishment, serving a number of transport providers from across the country, helping them to modernise their fleets and serve communities.

“This fund will be a real boost to businesses just like ours across the North of England. Gaining access to finance over the years has enabled us to grow our business, hire a number of skilled engineers and build a new state of the art garage with some of the best specialist facilities of their kind in the UK.”

Later, Jes Staley also met Barclays apprentices at one of the bank’s major contact centres in Doxford International Business Park, near Sunderland. The centre employs 1,600 people in customer support roles doing everything from providing mortgages, to helping to fight fraud against customers, to advising small businesses. The company has already doubled the number of apprentices it has hired in Sunderland in 2018 in comparison to last year.

During the visit, Jes Staley announced a pilot scheme for new retail entry roles in the bank’s Liverpool and Sunderland contact centres to be focused towards apprenticeships first.

“We’ve discovered at Barclays that the ‘can-do’ attitude our apprentices have means they are excellent at helping our customers and clients. We want more people to have the life-changing career opportunity that a quality apprenticeship provides.”

Small Business Minister Andrew Griffiths said:

“This Government is fully behind the entrepreneurs delivering jobs, growth and greater choice for consumers so it’s great to see businesses like Barclays providing further investment to help Northern SMEs start-up and grow.

“Small businesses are the backbone of our economy, with over 1,000 being created every day across the country supporting nearly 3 million jobs and generating revenues of more than £200 billion in the North of England alone. Through our modern Industrial Strategy, we are building a Britain in which they will continue to thrive.”

Northern Powerhouse Partnership Vice-Chair and leading economist Lord Jim O’Neill said:

“I have consistently said that for the Northern Powerhouse to be a success and deliver a more balanced economy for the whole of the UK requires the support and vision of the North’s leading businesses.

“This major fund from Barclays will significantly increase the potential of our SMEs across the Northern Powerhouse to embrace the next Industrial Revolution, incorporating innovation such as robotics and AI into everything they do.

“There is real momentum growing in the Northern Powerhouse, and I hope the commitment Barclays and their CEO Jes Staley have demonstrated today will be matched by our political leaders in Whitehall so the Northern Powerhouse can truly fulfil its potential.”

Based at Wavertree in the Liverpool contact centre, Sharon Kirby, Barclays Apprentice, said: “I’ve worked at Barclays for many years but after the birth of my second daughter, I decided I wanted to give my career more focus and applied for a degree-level apprenticeship managing relationships with customers.

“Since day one, the apprenticeship has been fantastic and I’ve had the chance to study while continuing to work and support my family.

“To anyone thinking of doing an apprenticeship at any stage of life or career, I would say go for it!”

Barclays has a substantial commitment to the North of England, employing around 12,000 people in high quality jobs across the region, including nearly 1,000 apprentices in branches, contact centres and technology roles. The bank also provides some of the country’s leading technology jobs at the its Radbroke Park Centre in Knutsford, Cheshire, where colleagues include commuters from Manchester. The bank will also shortly open new Eagle Labs - dedicated co-working spaces for promising start-ups to grow and collaborate - in Newcastle and Sheffield, adding to its existing Labs in Salford and Liverpool.

More details on the fund and how to apply can be found at: barclays.co.uk/business-banking or via a local relationship manager on 0333 202 7446.