£12m loan hits the right note for BIMM

MUSIC school BIMM has agreed a £12m facility with Barclays to support a Manchester launch, and expansion elsewhere.

The business, which started out as the Brighton Institute of Modern Music in 2001, is planning to open in Manchester in time for the 2014 academic year and expand colleges in Dublin and London.

It expects these changes to take the number of students at its five to more than 3,000.

The school’s alumni include Ben Thompson, drummer with the Two Door Cinema Club, Kate Walsh and The Kooks.

BIMM director Adam Carswell said: “As the UK music industry continues to react to the digital revolution, musicians face the challenge of working out the best way to earn a living in an exciting yet unpredictable sector.

“Our aim is to offer an innovative and outstanding environment to meet the increasing demand for higher and further educational music courses. Our relationship with Barclays has helped us greatly in achieving our ongoing commitment to developing our courses for our students, and to continue to widen our ability to do so.”

Mark Mattock, relationship director at Barclays, said: “This is an important deal for Barclays. We have sustained an ongoing dialogue with BIMM for over a decade and have always been impressed by the quality of leadership and strategic planning they have put in place.

“This facility demonstrates our ability to work closely with our clients to deliver tailored financial solutions that appropriately align with their commercial aims and benefits thousands of talented young people pursue career in an industry we all enjoy.”