Barclays partners with Engine Shed for its Bristol-based Eagle Lab

Barclays announced its first Bristol-based Eagle Lab during Bristol Technology Festival last week, creating a further boost for the West of England startup and entrepreneurial ecosystem. 

Due to open before the end of the year, the Bristol Eagle Labs will be located at Engine Shed by Temple Meads station. Engine Shed is Eagle Labs’ 34th location in the UK, with the network having supported more than 12,000 business ecosystems since 2015. 

Eagle Labs at Engine Shed will provide startups and entrepreneurs with access to business expertise, banking services, and mentoring and coaching from scale-up specialists. The Eagle Labs’ team will also host a year-round events programme dedicated to promoting collaboration and innovation in the community.

“We’ll bring our Eagle Labs philosophy, helping to provide startups and scaleups a home and fostering the connections to help them grow”

Through its partnership, it will also offer its members the opportunity to connect with like-minded entrepreneurs, local organisations, universities, industry bodies and potential clients and investors across the country, to help them build their networks and grow.

Matt Corbidge, Director Barclays Eagles Labs, tells us, “We’re really excited to announce our new partnership and bring the first Barclays Eagle Lab to Bristol. We’ll bring our Eagle Labs philosophy, helping to provide startups and scaleups a home and fostering the connections to help them grow.”

“This new Barclays Eagle Lab shows that Bristol and Bath’s startup community continues to go from strength to strength”

Engine Shed is the University of Bristol’s leading innovation hub in Bristol. It offers office, meeting and event spaces, alongside membership and its own training to drive innovation in the region. 

Barclays Eagle Labs will join SETsquared Bristol, the University’s tech incubator at Engine Shed, to enhance support to a broader range of businesses. 

Mike Paton, Director of Engine Shed, adds, “We’re delighted to be partnering with Barclays Eagle Labs to support accelerating innovation and sustainable growth of the regional economy. Funded by the UK Government, Eagle Labs offers a wide range of support for entrepreneurs that complements our existing portfolio of services, and we see this as a win-win for founders, startups and scaleups in the region.”

Our very own Ben Shorrock, Managing Director at techSPARK, also comments, “This new Barclays Eagle Lab shows that Bristol and Bath’s startup community continues to go from strength to strength. We’re delighted that we can make this announcement during Bristol Tech Festival 2023, creating a fantastic opportunity to connect Barclays to our thriving ecosystem.” 

For more information about the Bristol Eagle Lab, see here.