Barclays' Eagle Lab Leicester officially opens at DMU

The eagle has landed...

Vice-Chancellor at DMU Katie Normington and Barclays Eagle Labs Leicester ecosystem manager Poonam Sharma (second and third from left)

The East Midlands' first Barclays' Eagle Lab has been launched in partnership with Leicester's De Montfort University (DMU). It aims to boost the start-up ecosystem across the region.

Led by Ecosystem Manager Poonam Sharma and located on campus at DMU's Innovation Centre, it will support start-ups and entrepreneurs.

Poonam has years of experience working as part of the city's business community at the Barclays' Leicester branch. She'll be working with people all over the region to understand and develop opportunities to support scale-up and growth.

Ecosystem Manager Poonam Sharma addresses the attendees.

Joining the largest network of its kind in the UK, the new Barclays' Eagle Lab is one of 34 locations, providing co-working spaces for start-ups and scale-ups around the country.

Over 70 guests attended the launch event, held on Tuesday, October 11 at the Innovation Centre. Those present included representatives from Leicester and Leicestershire Enterprise Partnership (LLEP), Leicester Asian Business Association, Leicester City Council, and local businesses, as well as Barclays and DMU staff. Barclays’ focus for Eagle Lab Leicester will be on supporting the business communities across the city, county and region. Businesses can be connected to mentors, training and offers. The team will be working with existing start-up organisations in the region to create a peer network that supports start-ups. "It is great to be in partnership with DMU," said Poonam, "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 that's here, and cannot wait to get started."

Every good launch event features a glitter confetti canon.

"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," said DMU Vice-Chancellor, Katie Normington. "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. We were proud to be named in the top 10 UK universities for student and graduate start-ups for the second year running.”