Barclays chair quits in boardroom shakeup
Barclays UK chair Sir Ian Cheshire will step down at the start of next year, in a sudden departure after three years at the helm.
In a statement, the company said: “With regret, Sir Ian has informed the group that he is unable to accommodate the increased time commitment and duration required to see through this programme.”
Cheshire will be replaced by Crawford Gillies, a senior independent director on Barclays’ board.
Barclays also announced that Julie Wilson will join its board as a non-executive director from April. She will take up the role after leaving her position at Legal & General, where she has served as a non-executive director since 2011.
The lender said Wilson “will bring significant corporate finance, tax and accounting experience to the board”.
It comes as Barclays UK said over the coming years it “will need a concerted focus on its plans to position the bank to support customers against a backdrop of an economy recovering from the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic.”
The company was fined £26m on Wednesday over its treatment of customers who fell into debt or experienced financial problems.
The Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) found that Barclays had mistreated some retail and small business customers who fell into arrears between April 2014 and December 2018.
It failed to follow its customers’ contact policies or help customers understand their arrears, and offered unaffordable or unsustainable solutions, the FCA said.