Barclays is expanding its Corporate Banking team in Northern Ireland after almost doubling its client base over the last three years. Its new head, John Mathers, has been appointed at a pivotal moment for the bank locally, as the team has recently moved into state-of-the-art offices, significantly grown its customer base, and laid out ambitious plans for future expansion.
Following recent client wins, the team has taken on additional headcount with further hires planned for the coming months. In 2023, the team onboarded the equivalent of almost one new client each week. Since the start of 2024, Barclays has approved over £250m of new funding limits to Northern Ireland businesses as the team has seen an increase in demand for borrowing to support investment.
John Mathers, newly appointed Head of Barclays Corporate Banking in Northern Ireland, said: “Economic conditions both globally and locally have been challenging over the last 5 to 10 years but we are seeing signs of businesses dusting down investment plans, many of which have been on hold. We have seen the restoration of local government and on a broader economic front, input cost inflation is slowing and borrowing rates easing, so conditions are more supportive of business investment”.
This need for investment has given the Corporate Banking team in Northern Ireland a concentrated focus on lending for growth to existing clients. One example is the food-to-go specialist, Around Noon Foods Group, who moved to Barclays in 2019. They faced unprecedented challenge as a result of the pandemic which, as CEO Gareth Chambers said, “saw us lose some 80% of our trade almost overnight”.
Around Noon is back on its original fast-growth trajectory having completed a major acquisition in 2023 that almost doubled revenue. This has quickly been followed by the announcement of an investment in a new 30,000 sq ft facility near London which will open this year and is expected to create an additional 200 jobs. Barclays has helped fund both of these key investments and has also provided working capital facilities to support the growth. Turnover of the group in the year to December 2024 is expected to be £88 million and now Gareth and his team have ambitions to scale the business to £200m by 2028, close to a 130% increase.
Other businesses that have joined the Barclays client base include SlurryKat, a market leader in the design and manufacture of equipment for the agriculture and biogas industries, headquartered in Co. Armagh and the long-standing Belfast-based agri-food business, Andrews Flour. From a very different industry, tech-firm Kigen, who provide SIM, eSIM and iSIM technologies also moved their banking to Barclays. Declan Milne, CFO for Kigen, said: “It is refreshing to have a bank that wants to have a pro-active relationship, understand our business and bring new ideas and solutions as to how they can support us”. One of the areas that Barclays has supported Kigen with is in implementing a strategy around treasury management and FX risk.
As a result of the extensive team growth, the Northern Ireland Barclays Corporate Bank team recently moved into new offices at The Ewart on Bedford Square in August 2024. This is a clear statement of Barclays’ progress and ambition in the corporate banking market in Northern Ireland. The investment has provided offices designed to foster collaboration, innovation and client engagement. With modern meeting spaces and an open-plan layout, the new workspace reflects the team’s forward-thinking approach. The relocation also signifies the bank’s commitment to investing in its people and resources, ensuring the Corporate Banking team has everything it needs to deliver exceptional service.
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