Barclays hit with TUPE claim over Tech Nation staffers

Barclays’ joy at securing the Government’s £12m Digital Growth Grant from Tech Nation for its Eagle Labs unit appears to have been short lived after being told it must take on nearly 50 of Tech Nation’s workforce under TUPE regulations.

Having revealed it would be forced to cease operations at the end of March, Tech Nation said it had “initiated TUPE discussions with Barclays Bank and have informed [the Department for Culture, Media and Sport]”.

Sky News claims that Barclays is resisting Tech Nation’s insistence that TUPE rules – designed to protect employees when their organisation is taken over – apply to up to 48 of its staff.

The not-for-profit industry body is understood to have sought legal advice on the issue, with one source close to the situation saying that a barrister had confirmed that TUPE applied.

In a statement, Barclays said: “Discussions with Tech Nation are still ongoing, so it would not be appropriate for us to comment in detail at this time. However, we are keen to work with Tech Nation to explore any suitable opportunities for their employees within the Barclays family.”

The closure of Tech Nation prompted an outcry from leading investors and start-up founders from the UK tech industry.
First launched in 2011 and then overhauled in 2018 by the merger of Tech City UK and Tech North, Tech Nation has worked with the likes of Bloom & Wild, Just Eat, Ocado, and Deliveroo.

As news of the looming closure emerged, Tessa Clarke, co-founder and CEO at Olio, said her scale-up had benefitted enormously from its supportive network as an alumni of the Upscale, International and Net Zero X growth programmes.

“I am deeply disappointed by the Government’s decision to give the DCMS grant to a large corporate bank, particularly at a time when Tech Nation and the UK tech economy has such incredible momentum, but is facing into challenging macroeconomic headwinds.”

Eric van der Kleij, co-founder at EdenBase.com, added: “It’s going to be tough – and in my view would have been better to mandate that the winner of this funding actually preserved and extended the incredible Tech Nation work, while maintaining the crucial neutrality, inclusivity and international brand positioning of the UK tech sector. That will be challenging for a commercial organisation to replicate.”

Simon Mellin, CEO at Modern Milkman, described the organisation as “a huge enabler as we have scaled”, adding: “It’s a real blow to the tech industry for this to no longer continue.”