Time for some clues about the top jobs at Barclays

SIR Peter Middleton, chairman of Barclays Bank, has just turned 68. He has served on the bank's board for all the 20 years since he left the Treasury and took the chair in 1999. Matthew Barrett is 57. He became Barclays' chief executive three years ago as belated successor to Martin Taylor. Since then the bank has prospered and the shares have outperformed.

Seldom has Barclays looked so stable, so one might have guessed it would be too good to last. According to weekend reports, Middleton will soon stand down and Barrett will take over as executive chairman, possibly acting as chief executive too for a while. On this thesis, Barclays' annual meeting this week could be Middleton's last.

It sounds like someone is flying a kite. Barclays' Press Office says the reports are not true. It adds that no announcements will be made at the AGM to indicate Middleton is stepping down and therefore whether Barrett is about to be given the chairman's job does not arise. That sounds convincing enough - except that internal Press Offices are usually the last to know about these things.

It is an odd story all the same. Barrett may have done well at Barclays so far, but he has benefited from a benign economic background and his prowess in tough times is unproven. Also, it is generally deemed to be bad corporate practice to turn chief executives into chairmen and even worse to suggest they do both jobs.

Further, and for good measure, Barclays does not ask its directors to resign until the AGM following their 70th birthday, which would give Middleton another two years at the helm. Even then, the bank can ask directors to stay on if it feels this would be good for stakeholders.

But it does not answer the question of why the story is doing the rounds. The way the City works is that such stories generally indicate that somebody, somewhere - a non-executive director, a major shareholder, sometimes even one of the principals - feels the succession issue needs to be aired and plants the story. Seldom is there smoke without any fire at all. It is also the case that once in the public domain such issues do not go away - as Lord Alexander found at NatWest or Lord Marshall continues to find at British Airways.

To avoid continuing damaging speculation, Sir Peter should take the opportunity on Thursday to tell shareholders what the plan is - and if there is not one, when he thinks there will be.

Slow going

FEDERAL Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan chose an odd day to turn bullish. Wall Street fell on Monday because Ericsson and WorldCom showed there is not yet a glimmer of light in the telecoms sector.

But Greenspan, in his usual cautious way, said last night that he thought capital investment was picking up, albeit very slowly. It had collapsed last year with the plunge in corporate profitability. It was now recovering with the improving trend of corporate profits, he said.

What improving trend is that, one might ask? Analysts say that, outside telecoms, things are getting better. But that was hardly the impression delivered on Monday by Sir Martin Sorrell whose position as head of WPP, one of the world's largest advertising businesses, gives him unique access to the world's boardrooms. Few are better placed to gauge the mood of world business and he sees the picture as still very mixed and uncertain.

Greenspan has a different perspective, of course. He draws some confidence from the remarkable growth in productivity in the US throughout the slowdown and is clearly impressed by the economy's resilience despite the shocks of the past two years. But he is not going to overstate his case. This is not a fast bounce back He sees it as a very slow and long drawn-out recovery.

Lloyds' line

OVER at Lloyds TSB, the succession issue is even more pressing. Chairman Martin van den Bergh has publicly stated that chief executive Peter Ellwood will leave next year. Ellwood is almost 59 and is due to retire after his 60th birthday.

Van den Bergh is apparently being very coy about who is lined up. The obvious choice to many is the managing director of corporate and commercial banking, Michael Riding, but it does not appear that obvious to the board. Headhunters have been buzzing round the bank's headquarters but none has even been officially appointed.

Van den Bergh's secrecy may stem from a desire not to undermine his chief executive, but age is doing that for him. Those with their eyes on Ellwood's job have pencilled in his departure date from the day he took over and need no reminding that he should go in the next 18 months. Why shareholders should have to pretend otherwise is beyond me. It really is not in keeping with the times for chairmen to think that the owners of the business should sit humbly on the sidelines while he and the board make up their minds which Buggins should have his turn.

Indeed it is the sign of a well-run company that lines of succession are drawn clearly and early - but perhaps banks have never been that well run.