Barclays has opened one of its Eagle Labs at De Montfort University’s Innovation Centre in Leicester. 

The co-working and incubator hub aims to help entrepreneurs and businesses collaborate, innovate and grow, and the DMU site will be the first Eagle Lab in the East Midlands.

The Barclays Eagle Lab will be led by Ecosystem Manager, Poonam Sharma. She said:

“It is great to be in partnership with DMU and I am excited to engage with businesses and the community as we work together to create an entrepreneurial ecosystem here in Leicester.

“There is so much potential in the East Midlands but I know there are challenges too. We want to work with start-ups to help them scale, but also established businesses and high growth companies to take them to the next level.

“I’ve grown up in Leicester and I know the potential and talent there is here, and cannot wait to get started.”

Vice-Chancellor Katie Normington said:

“I think the fact that Barclays chose Leicester and DMU to be the base for its work in the East Midlands speaks volumes about the confidence and potential that exists within our business community.

“Leicester is already one of the best cities in which to be an entrepreneur, with one of the highest start-up rates of any UK city. This entrepreneurial spirit is something we nurture at DMU and this year we were proud to be named in the top 10 UK universities for student and graduate start-ups for the second year running.”