New appointment at Barclays affirms future for Glasgow
22 June 2011
Barclays has recruited a veteran of the securities business to lead the operational support effort for its global wealth management and investment banking businesses from Glasgow in a move it said reinforced its commitment to the city.
The giant bank has appointed Paul Burd to head the Glasgow shared services department which fulfils back office functions for units like Barclays Wealth International and Barclays Capital.
He joins Barclays after spending the last 10 years in senior operational roles with the investment banking giant JP Morgan in the UK and South Africa.
Mr Burd will be responsible for maintaining relationships with the businesses that are supported from Glasgow and for ensuring that the shared services department is organised to deliver what is required.
Barclays chose Glasgow to be the home of a shared services department that combined existing support operations for its Wealth Management and investment banking businesses in September last year. It said the move would create 600 jobs over several years.
Some 1500 staff work in the centre on Bothwell Street.
The company also employs 300 people in areas like investment management and private banking in the city.
Mr Burd’s appointment to the newly created role appears to provide a vote of confidence for Glasgow.
“The appointment follows a period of sustained growth and will further strengthen the Barclays Wealth team in Scotland, in addition to reinforcing the company’s commitment to Glasgow as a centre of excellence in financial services,” said Barclays.
Paul Chapman, global head of Barclays Wealth Operations, said the bank was delighted to have attracted someone with Mr Burd’s credentials in what he called a particularly exciting period of growth for the business.
“Our infrastructure framework in Glasgow is a core element of our global expansion plans and we have committed substantial investment to developing the shared services hub into a market-leading centre of excellence through attracting the best industry talent and enhancing our business process,” said Mr Chapman.
Mr Burd will be based in Glasgow and report to Mr Chapman.
Mark Little will remain head of Barclays Wealth’s investment management teams in Scotland and Northern Ireland.
He will continue to report to Des Byrne, managing director of Barclays Stockbrokers
Mr Burd was most recently general manager of Worldwide Securities at JP Morgan based in Cape Town, South Africa. He oversaw operations, technology, finance, sales and relationship management. He was previously managing director of JP Morgan’s London Investment Management Operations.
He also spent 10 years with Goldman Sachs in London and Frankfurt and a decade with HSBC.
Source: Reproduced with the permission of The Herald, Glasgow© Newsquest (Herald & Times) Ltd.
More information on Barclays Wealth