Barclays Eagle Lab in partnership with Legal & General has officially opened a new 6,500sq ft incubator facility in Cardiff, with those behind the venture not ruling out Newport as a possible base for a future Eagle Lab.

Located at Brunel House, the Cardiff Eagle Lab will give start-up and scale-up businesses from across the region a crucial boost.

Cardiff is one of 14 Eagle Labs Barclays has opened. It is hoped the number will eventually get to about 50.

The 120 seat co-working site, will be the home to high growth businesses with access to Maker Space facilities supporting rapid prototyping and product development.

With occupancy rates already above 30 per cent prior to the official opening, including local companies such as Sure Chill, the Digital Maverick and home to the IoT Accelerator Wales, demand is already proving strong for this cutting edge facility.

Ashok Vaswani, CEO of Barclays UK Banking said: “The Eagle Lab business incubator has been successfully launched in 13 other major cities across the UK, some by regenerating unused Barclays premises; and others by partnering in the regeneration of city buildings.

"Our investment will bring benefits far beyond a shared workspace and much further afield than Cardiff. This will help Welsh entrepreneurial companies to scale up and accelerate their growth locally and into international markets."

The space at Brunel House, will be specifically designed around the needs of local entrepreneurs, businesses and communities and tailored to suit Wales’ strength in hi-tech digital and Internet of Things innovation.