Barclays Group has launched a new £500 million growth fund for small and medium-size businesses in the North of England, as part of its commitment to supporting the Government’s Northern Powerhouse initiative.

Barclays Group CEO Jes Staley said: “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.”

Mr Staley announced the new fund while visiting Northumberland-based Thornton Brothers Ltd at the end of last month.

The company was founded by brothers George and Keith Thornton in 1979, with £25,000 lent by their local Barclays branch; it now employs over 70 highly skilled engineers, modernising fleets of buses for transport providers across the UK, including Transport for London, Go-Ahead and First Group Ltd.

George Thornton said: “This fund will be a real boost to businesses 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 in the UK.”

The Barclays fund is intended for SMEs in the Northern Powerhouse region, including established businesses with ambitious growth plans, start-ups with high growth potential, companies with early-stage equity funding and businesses focusing on innovation, R&D and Industry 4.0.

More information can be found at the Web site (www.barclays.co.uk/business-banking).