Barclays Eagle Labs - Powering Innovation beyond the High Street

The advent of the digital generation has changed communities in the UK, banks and post offices are closing and our high streets are full of chain coffee shops and empty units. The maker and start-up industry however is supercharging, driven by the digital revolution and the accessibility of low cost platforms like Raspberry Pi, Arduino and 3D printers and an endless supply of ideas and projects available on the internet.   This has also seen the rise of the Makerspace, something that not too long ago was an underground movement of an elite gathering of hard core engineers, but are now expanding across some of our towns and cities. Often from these Makerspace tech-start-ups are born, but they are often lacking in the business skills and mentoring they need to turn their vison into a successful business.

Barclays are no stranger to innovation. They were first in the UK to install an ATM in their Enfield branch in London.  John Shepherd-Barron, the British inventor who pioneered the development of the cash machine in the late 1960’s came up with the idea while he was in the bath. 

With the changing landscape, Barclays saw an opportunity to create hybrid spaces placed within the heart of our towns and cities to help support the local communities of entrepreneurs, innovators and makers. Opening their first Eagle Lab in Cambridge UK in 2016 above one of their branches, this was their first step that blended a Maker Space and Tech Incubator concept onto the high street, open to the local community.  It was designed to help inspire and offer a starter home to a new generation of entrepreneurs and tech start-ups. 

One of the residents is Sure Chill, a Welsh start-up company who have invented a cooling technology that will allow a refrigerator to last 10 days without power.  This is a lifesaving technology in developing countries for storing vaccines in places with sporadic electricity supplies.

RS Components has been supporting engineers for over 80 years, offering the building blocks of innovation through the products that we sell.  RS offers almost everything someone might need to create and develop a product from components and tools to create a proof of concept to prototype, Test and Measurement products and then to take it to a production ready product. Through our DesignSpark Community, we offer free CAD design Software, technical articles, ideas and support through the DesignSpark community.

Most of the Eagle Labs have a MakerSpace, Cardiff is one of the biggest and has IoT at the centre of activities.  The Cardiff Lab is a collaboration between RS, DesignSpark and Barclays.  We decided to help fit out the lab with the essential bits of hardware someone would need to create and develop a prototype.   “The DesignSpark MakerSpace” has  everything from RSPro hand tools to 3D printers and high end RSPro test and measurement equipment, and like any cooks cupboard, it’s stocked with various components and consumables one might need to create something special.