Barclays has provided a £4 million trade loan to British high-performance apparel brand ThruDark, supporting its continued growth and accelerating its retail expansion strategy.
The funding, provided by Barclays UK Corporate Bank, has been deployed to strengthen ThruDark’s working capital following the crucial Golden Quarter trading period, encompassing Black Friday, Christmas and January sales. It has also enabled the brand’s high-profile festive retail activation at Battersea Power Station, bringing its performance-led apparel to one of London’s most prominent retail destinations.
Founded in 2016 by former special forces soldiers Louis Tinsley and Anthony “Staz” Stazicker, ThruDark has built a reputation for designing rugged, high-performance clothing tested in demanding real-world environments. The brand has scaled rapidly in recent years, blending technical innovation with a strong community and endurance-driven identity.
That growth was recognised at the Barclays Entrepreneur Awards, where ThruDark was named Scale Up Company Award winner for 2025. The business has also featured again in The Sunday Times ranking of Britain’s fastest-growing private companies, underlining its momentum in a competitive retail landscape.
Owen Dady, relationship director at Barclays UK Corporate Bank, said the deal reflects the bank’s wider commitment to supporting ambitious UK companies. He pointed to Barclays’ £22 billion Business Prosperity Fund, announced last year, which is designed to help businesses invest for growth, scale operations and manage periods of peak demand.
Chris Reynolds, chief executive of ThruDark, said the funding has given the business vital flexibility to invest confidently. He noted that the facility has helped the company purchase stock at scale, meet strong seasonal demand and push forward with its physical retail ambitions, adding that the Scale Up Company Award win was a major milestone for the team.
Beyond retail, ThruDark continues to build its brand through sport, adventure and elite performance. Its partnerships range from teamwear sponsorship with Triumph Racing to title sponsorship of the Devizes to Westminster International Canoe Race, often described as the “canoeists’ Everest”. Its kit has also been tested on world-first expeditions, including a record-breaking speed ascent that saw one of the company’s co-founders travel from London to the summit of Mount Everest and back in under seven days.
Together, the funding and recent accolades mark another step in ThruDark’s transition from niche performance label to scaled British retail brand with international ambition.
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Barclays backs ThruDark retail expansion with £4m trade loan