Boardroom shake-up at Barclays as Sir Ian Cheshire goes

THERE was a board shake-up at Barclays today when Sir Ian Cheshire suddenly stood down.

Sir Ian is standing down as chairman  of the “ringfenced” UK bank, a structure he helped devise. He was paid £480,000 last year by Barclays.

The statement 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.”

Sir Ian, the former CEO of Kingfisher, will be replaced by Crawford Gillies, presently the senior independent director on the main board. He will be replaced in that role and as chair of the remuneration committee by Brian Gilvary.

In addition, Julia Wilson is joining as a non-executive director. The finance director of 3i will step down from the board of L&G before joining Barclays.

Jes Staley, 63, has been CEO of Barclays since 2015. While nothing concrete has been said about his plans, it is thought in the City that he will look to move on in a year or two, sparking a race to find a successor.

Staley himself has indicated that he could stay on for up to another three years.