Starling Bank has plumped for an office in Manchester to create up to 1,000 new jobs at the digital bank. It already has offices in London, Southampton, Dublin and Cardiff.
The digital lender, which already employs 2,500 people, has chosen Manchester as the home for its Northern expansion and will make hires in operations, engineering, data science and cybersecurity.
Starling has signed a 10-year lease for the fifth floor at Barings’ Landmark’s in St Peter’s Square. The office runs on green energy, is built with sustainable materials, encourages employees to make greener transport decisions, and is home to two bee hives – each containing around 80,000 worker bees during the summer.
According to a 2020 Whitecap Consulting report, Greater Manchester is home to the largest financial and professional services sector outside London.
“Manchester is one of the most important tech hubs in the UK,” says Anne Boden, founder and CEO at Starling Bank. “London’s success as a global fintech hub enables it to spread wealth and jobs throughout the UK and the wider economy. That’s exactly what we’re doing with this office in Manchester.”
Local initiatives
Starling has previously partnered with former Manchester City player Jill Scott MBE to launch a £200,000 kit giveaway for girls’ grassroots teams at Astley & Tydesley Girl’s FC in Lancashire. The bank also sponsored the UEFA Women’s EURO 2022, where it partnered Lauren Hemp, forward for Manchester City, to launch the first ever fantasy football tournament for the Women’s EURO in the UK.
Deborah Walker, Head of inward investment for Financial, Professional, and Business Services at MIDAS said: “Manchester is the largest regional tech hub outside of London, home to more than 10,000 tech businesses benefiting from our digital expertise and ambitious, collaborative nature.
“We’re excited to welcome Starling to this community not only for their best-in-class banking but their ethics. Manchester city-region is proud of our heritage in disrupting the norm and our history of empowering women dating back as far as Emmeline Pankhurst; here we align with Starling and look forward to working with them to take the financial services sector to new heights.”
Whitecap Consulting, in collaboration with Fintech North, will launch its new Manchester Region FinTech Report 2023 at the end of this month.
