Barclay's chairman to stand down

Banking giant Barclays today said that its “inspirational” chairman Matt Barrett will stand down at the end of the year to be replaced by Marcus Agius.

Mr Barrett, who was once married to model Anne-Marie Sten, will leave the post on New Year’s Eve after seven years at the bank, including five as chief executive and two as chairman.

The 62-year-old is a well respected figure within the City but will probably be best remembered for telling MPs that he would not use a credit card because the interest rates were too high.

His departure comes after he guided a transfer of power at Barclays to a new management team under chief executive John Varley.

It is thought that Mr Barrett now wants to spend more time with his family in his native Canada. In the past he has said his retirement plan was “to write a bad book, find my karma and grow a ponytail”.

Mr Barrett said it was “a great privilege to serve Barclays over the past seven years”.

He added: “The performance of the group is the best in its history and, with the transition to the new management team successfully completed, I am delighted to hand over the chairman’s reins.”

Earlier this month Barclays said profits in the first half of the year rose 37% to £3.67bn (€5.45bn), although it warned of growing levels of bad debt at Barclaycard.

Mr Varley today said Mr Barrett had been “an inspirational leader”.

Mr Agius, the 60-year-old City grandee and head of the Lazard investment bank in London, will take over from Mr Barrett on January 1.

As chairman of BAA, he spent much of the year fighting the takeover of the airports owner by Spanish firm Ferrovial, although he has now stepped down from the post after the bid went through.