ThruDark, the British high performance apparel brand, has secured a £4m Trade Loan from Barclays UK Corporate Bank to support its growth and retail expansion.
The facility is being used to help support the business’ continued success following the crucial Golden Quarter period (Black Friday, Christmas and January sales) – and enabled ThruDark’s festive retail activation at Battersea Power Station, bringing the brand’s performance apparel to a landmark London destination.
Founded in 2016 by former special forces soldiers Louis Tinsley and Anthony “Staz” Stazicker, ThruDark designs rugged, high-performance gear developed and tested in demanding real world conditions.
The business was named Scale Up Company Award 2025 winner at the Barclays Entrepreneur Awards, recognising the company’s rapid growth and entrepreneurial ambition. The brand also featured again in The Sunday Times 100 of Britain’s fastest growing private companies, an annual ranking sponsored by the bank.
Chris Reynolds, CEO of ThruDark, said: “Barclays’ support has been instrumental in giving us the flexibility to purchase stock at scale, meet peak demand, and accelerate our retail expansion. Winning the Scale Up Company Award is a fantastic milestone for the team, and we’re excited to build on that momentum.”
Owen Dady, Relationship Director at Barclays UK Corporate Bank, added: “ThruDark is a standout British brand scaling at pace and we are proud to be involved in supporting their success, both now and in the years ahead. At the end of last year we announced a £22bn Business Prosperity Fund designed to help UK businesses invest for growth – and this facility is an excellent example of that fund in action.”
Beyond retail, ThruDark’s community footprint spans sport and adventure – from a teamwear partnership with Triumph Racing, a title sponsorship of the Devizes to Westminster International Canoe Race, known as ‘the canoeists’ Everest’, through to the kit being tested on world first expeditions including to the top of the world for a record-breaking speed ascent that saw one of the Co-Founders travel from London to the top of Mount Everest and back in under 7 days. All of this underlining a brand mission rooted in performance and endurance.
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