What it does: Barclays bank provides numerous financial services such as retail banking, corporate banking, mortgage banking, investment banking, loan issuance, insurance services, asset management, and credit card issuance to its diverse clientele.
Mission: Barclays Bank’s mission is to create opportunities to grow.
Size and presence: Barclays has a significant presence in the UK. This bank employs more than 47,600 staff members across its 1600 offices within the UK. Its headquarter is located in London.
Best known for: Barclays is a universal bank, and its banking operations go beyond the shores of the United Kingdom. This bank provides financial solutions to several millions of customers worldwide. The bank is widely regarded as one of the biggest financial institutions in the world. Barclays is best known for helping its customers survive the market conditions despite the covid-19 pandemic. Barclays Bank is also an award-winning financial institution. In 2020, Barclays Bank was named Euromoney's Best Bank in the UK. This company also won the award for Best Investment Bank in the UK. Barclays Bank is also known for launching the first credit card in the UK.
The good bits: Barclays Bank is widely regarded as one of the best places to work in the UK. The bank offers its employees numerous perks and benefits. In addition, the company has a great working environment, and the pay is competitive.
The not so good bits: It’s not easy to get a job at Barclays due to the high level of competition for limited job slots. There’s a high level of bureaucracy.
Barclays Bank has a very old history that goes as far back as 1690. Two goldsmith bankers, John Freame and Thomas Gould, began doing business in London. In 1736, Joseph Freame, John Freame's son, partnered with James Barclay, his brother-in-law. That was a defining point for the business because the name "Barclay" became a fixture in the business since then.
In 1776, the firm was rebranded as Barclay, Bevan and Bening. The company's name changed in 1785 with the introduction of another partner, John Tritton. After marrying Barclay and joining the firm, the company rebranded to Barclay, Bevan, Bening, and Tritton. In 1896, many British banks joined under the name Barclays and Co. The company grew in size and influence. In the early 20th century, the bank acquired small banks. The company also expanded its network across Europe.
In 2004, Barclays Bank took over the sponsorship of the Premier League. Fast forward to today, the bank has established itself as one of the largest banks in Europe and the world.
Barclays Bank's culture is premised on five core values: respect, integrity, excellence, service, and stewardship. The bank also promotes diversity and inclusion. All these create a great working environment where employees can thrive. Barclays Bank is one of the first companies in the world to appoint a female to a managerial position as far back as the 20th century. This says a lot about their inclusion policy. The bank values its employees, and the co-workers show mutual respect. This is a good company for fresh graduates and interns.
Barclays hires its workers through the following processes;
Barclays Bank offers great career prospects to fresh graduates, interns, experienced professionals, and even contract workers. This bank offers its Expert and Explorer programmes to fresh graduates. They offer summer internship and off-cycle internship programmes to interns. There are discovery programmes for undergraduates with two years to complete their studies. There are also Foundation and Higher apprenticeship programmes for apprentices.
A fresher at Barclays Bank earns an average annual pay of £40,500.
Barclays Bank is actively contributing to achieving a zero carbon footprint on the environment. The bank is also against child labour and actively fights for its abolition. The bank encourages the adoption of eco-friendly technologies.
According to a credible news source, Barclays Bank sold more exchange-traded notes than what was legally permitted by the Securities and Exchange Commission.