Klarna — Europe’s leading payments provider and the company powering Pay later for thousands of global and local brands in the UK — has today announced the expansion of its UK operations with a new office located in Manchester. This will complement Klarna’s current London base in the heart of the retail and fashion district at Oxford Street.
The new Klarna office, which will open in Summer 2019, will be located at the Old Granada Studios, in the city’s fast-developing payments and retail tech hub with Adyen, Worldpay, Dotdigital and Space 48 nearby. This creates a base for existing Klarna employees currently working in the North West and enables planned hiring over the next few months, with immediate access to the region’s top talent pool.
Following strong growth in the UK market, which has seen almost 5 million consumers use Klarna at 4,000 retailers, Manchester was the clear frontrunner for the company’s newest location. Manchester is a key strategic geo for Klarna, with many of its retail partners — such as In The Style, JD Sports, and Missguided — operating across the city.
Over the past 12 months, Klarna has further strengthened its UK presence acquiring Retail Finance specialists Close Brothers Retail Finance (CBRF) and hired over 45 new employees.
Commenting on the new office, Luke Griffiths, General Manager at Klarna UK, said:
“Our expansion to Manchester is a testament to how quickly we are growing in the UK and our strong commitment to the market, our retail partners and customers. 25,000 new customers a week are choosing to Pay later with Klarna, as they appreciate the financial flexibility and control it gives. Manchester was a clear top choice for us, given the North West is home to some of the most exciting and innovative fashion brands in the country, fantastic talent and on trend shoppers, we couldn’t find a better second home. By growing our presence here, we’re planning to bring our ‘smoooth’ payment options to a wider range of businesses.”
To celebrate the launch of the new Manchester office, Klarna will be hosting the first of its Northern Smoooth Sessions in July. To register your interest, please email: events.uk@klarna.com.
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About Klarna
It’s all about smoooth (yes, with 3 ooo’s). Klarna is Europe’s leading payments provider and a newly-licensed bank, which wants to revolutionise the payment experience for shoppers and merchants alike. Founded in Stockholm, Sweden, in 2005, the fintech unicorn gives online consumers the option to pay now, pay later or over time — offering a trusted, frictionless and smoooth checkout experience.
Klarna now works with 130,000 merchants, including ASOS, Topshop, H&M and JD Sports in the UK, to offer payment solutions to users across Europe and North America. Klarna has 2,500 employees and is active in 14 countries.