Barclays is supporting the expansion of ThruDark stores with a £4m commercial loan
Barclays has provided a £4 million commercial loan to British performance clothing brand ThruDark, supporting its continued growth and accelerating its sales expansion strategy.
The funding, provided by Barclays UK Corporate Bank, has been deployed to strengthen ThruDark’s working capital following the key trading period of the Golden Quarter, including Black Friday, Christmas and January sales. It also powered the sale of the brand’s high-end products at Battersea Power Station, bringing its performance-led clothing to one of London’s most prominent retail locations.
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 grown rapidly in recent years, combining innovation with a strong community and patient-driven identity.
That growth was recognized at the Barclays Entrepreneur Awards, where ThruDark was named the 2025 Scale Up Company Award winner. The business also featured in the Sunday Times ranking of Britain’s fastest growing private companies, underscoring its strength in the competitive retail environment.
Owen Dady, relationship director at Barclays UK Corporate Bank, said the deal reflects the bank’s wider commitment to supporting ambitious UK companies. He highlighted Barclays’ £22 billion Business Prosperity Fund, announced last year, which is designed to help businesses invest to grow, operate and manage periods of peak demand.
Chris Reynolds, chief executive of ThruDark, said the funding gave the business the flexibility to invest with confidence. He mentioned that the facility helped the company to buy stock at a high level, meet the strong demands of the season and move forward with its sales ambitions, adding that winning the Scale Up Company Award was a milestone for the group.
Beyond retail, ThruDark continues to build its brand through sports, adventure and elite performance. Its partnerships range from team apparel sponsorship with Triumph Racing to title sponsorship of the Devizes to Westminster International Canoe Race, often described as the “Everest of canoeists”. Its kit has also been tested on world firsts, including a record-breaking speed climb that saw one of the company’s founders go from London to the summit of Mount Everest and back in less than seven days.
Together, the funding and recent accolades mark another step in ThruDark’s evolution from a niche performance label to a high-end British boutique brand with international ambition.
