Scot takes the helm at Braclays as Jenkins is fired

Barclays chairman John McFarlane has taken over as the bank’s new chief executive after Antony Jenkins was sensationally sacked this morning.

It is believed that Mr Jenkins had lost the confidence of the bank’s board after it had become increasingly alarmed at the pace of vital cost cutting measures.

Board members are believed to have wanted bigger cost cuts and an improvement of the performance of its investment bank.

Taking up the chief executive role today, Mr McFarlane, who is from Dumfries, said he agreed that the bank needed to become more efficient and did not rule out future job cuts, nor the possibility of branch closures.

“What we need is profit improvement. Barclays is not efficient. We are cumbersome”, he said.

Announcing the change, Barclays said it had sought a “new set of skills” to streamline the business.

Antony Jenkins had been Barclays’ chief executive since 2012 and the bank said the search for his long-term successor was already under way.

Mr Jenkins took over at Barclays in the summer of 2012 following the departure of Bob Diamond, who left in the wake of the Libor scandal.

The bank said Mr Jenkins had inherited a situation which “would have challenged anyone facing the same issues”.

Mr Jenkins said that when he had taken over as group chief executive in 2012 it was a “particularly difficult time for Barclays”.

“It is easy to forget just how bad things were three years ago both for our industry and even more so for us. I am very proud of the significant progress we have made since then,” he said.

The incoming Mr McFarlane, meanwhile, has been in this position before having previously held the roles of chairman and chief executive simultaneously at the insurance giant Aviva.

Upon taking on the new responsibilities at Barclays, Mr McFarlane made his first announcement was to confirm that the bank will not renew the famous Barclays Premier League sponsorship deal is currenlty holds when it expires later this year.