Barclays to review operations in Gibraltar

GIBRALTAR Staff at the Barclays offices on the Rock were told yesterday, Tuesday, morning that management have decided to go ahead with a formal review of its operations in Gibraltar, and that it could take up to three months. Nigel Riley, Head of Barclays Wealth International Direct, who is on a visit to Gibraltar, has already begun contacts with staff and major clients, according to the GBC, though there seem to be redundancy notices handed out already, if the social media is to be believed. Outgoing Barclays Gibraltar boss Franco Cassar, however, denied any such thing. The review is part of a strategic retrenchment that includes 3,700 job cuts a throughout Barclays operations worldwide. It is understood that the Gibraltar 'branch' is part of the Wealth and Investment Management division, which, although performing well, is one of the divisions that ran into well-publicized trouble in the recent past. Cassar added that regardless of the result of the ongoing review customers' money is 'as safe as at any branch in the UK'. (For further direct information, clients can call Barclays on 200 67519.)