The zealous banker known as Saint Antony
HE was known as ‘St Antony’ for his zeal in trying to clean up Barclays. So perhaps it was always ominous that St Anthony of Padua is the patron saint of lost causes.
Antony Jenkins, who has been sacked as the boss of Barclays bank, was brought in to lead the high street lender in 2012. He replaced Bob Diamond, who fell on his sword in disgrace after the Libor-rigging scandal.
An earnest Oxford graduate from a modest background in Nantwich, Cheshire, Mr Jenkins earned his spurs in the British retail bank – not the risky investment side so beloved by Mr Diamond and his brash American sidekicks. The 53-year-old was meant to be the antidote to the bank’s ill-fated attempts to ape Wall Street’s biggest operators. It was thought he would help restore the Quaker values of Barclays’ founders some 300 years before.
The contrast between Mr Jenkins and the irrepressible Mr Diamond could not be greater. ‘Jenkins is dryer than the Sahara on a dry day,’ said one executive. ‘He is all logic, and no emotion, the Mr Spock of banking.
‘There is no one, with the possible exception of his wife and family, who has a connection with him. He is 100 per cent technocratic.’ Mr Jenkins tried to purge the lender of the toxic culture that prevailed in the Diamond years.
Posters sprang up at its Canary Wharf office, all starting with ‘The one about…’ in a reference to episode titles from the sitcom Friends. They featured examples of Barclays helping hard- pressed businesses.
But many of his initiatives – including the catchphrase ‘I want to make Barclays the GoTo bank’ – were mocked as meaningless.
Mr Jenkins is married with two children and lives in west London. He began his career as a management trainee at Barclays and has also worked for Citigroup in New York.