We present an analysis of the X-ray spectral properties of 61 hard X-ray (2-8keV) selected sources from the bright XMM-Newton/2dF (f(2-8keV)>10^-14^erg/cm^2^/s) survey. This comprises nine XMMNewton pointings in the North Galactic Pole region (~1.6deg^2^) and overlaps with the SDSS, 2QZ and 2dFGRS surveys. Our sources contribute about 50 per cent of the 2-10keV X-ray background down to the flux limit of 10^-14^erg/cm^2^/s. The hardness ratio distribution of the sample suggests a deficit of heavily absorbed sources. Spectroscopic identifications exist for 34 sources.