I hope the following is a level and considered viewpoint despite the temptation to vilify the banking sector en bloc. After all, I did work for Barclays for twenty-five years…in a fashion!
What prompted this piece was the news that Barclays intended to recommence its programme of branch closures, in the process making thousands of staff redundant. The age of contrition and social awareness is clearly done with for now.
The reality is that my local branch and the excellent people who work there could well be on a hit-list drawn up in darkened rooms by people less interested in the Big Society than the next big bonus.
Announcing annual profits in excess of £5bn before a bonus pot that astounded the financial press and the City alike, CEO Antony Jenkins, boasted of making Barclays the “go to” bank; presumably he meant if you could actually find a branch in the future.
Jenkins believes that most people now bank online; has he ever been to a local branch to see the queues? Internet banking is fabulous but society is wide and varied; banks need to reflect this if they believe they are a central part of it.
The rumoured plan is to open “branches” in ASDA supermarkets – RBS is heading for the Post Office network – but some may remember that HSBC and Morrisons tried this years ago.
The running costs of my local branch must be a flea-bite on the plump backside of the average – and by their performance last year they do appear average – investment banker.
In addition the local people are committed, knowledgeable and loyal – unlike greedy investment bankers who appear to jump ship at will unless they get the bonus they squeal for.
So who suffers in the long run? As usual the elderly, the less IT-savvy and small businesses but then again, Barclays clearly does not care a jot suffering from stupendous arrogance at the top.
Paying out some three times more in bonuses than to it’s shareholders takes some nerve especially as last year shareholders stumped up almost £6bn in new capital to continue the process of repairing a balance sheet holed by greed and ineptitude.
It claims it needs to pay to hold on to the top performers, the same ones that nearly brought it to its knees; this is a weak argument.
Barclays is also the bank that boasts it did not need a tax-payer bail-out. True? Not quite; it skulked off to Qatar and borrowed from Sheikh Wonga to save it’s face with a scandal hit backroom deal.
Tax-payers just make the repayments indirectly through poor savings rates, high loan rates and take it or leave it fees.
In their vain desire to compete with the global investment bank giants, Barclays appear to have punted the reputation of the whole bank but what dismays many ordinary people is that so few have been made accountable for the crash of 2008.
Whilst most people continue to suffer from the long-term effects in everyday life, it is business as usual for bankers again.
Working for the bank was always an experience in buzzwords and this year Jenkins has come up with: respect, integrity, service, excellence and stewardship.
Words do, indeed, come easy!
Work This One Out?
Robert Peston, BBC Business Editor, fronted a programme on China “How China Fooled The World” which, to save you all from nodding off, concluded that China was in even more hock than we are.
For a nation of sober little fellows who appear to work even whilst sleeping that amazed me. Even more so when you think that the USA, Europe and the UK are all also on the pawn broker’s doorstep.
So who is lending to who out there if even China is expecting the bailiffs? Can someone explain please?
How Governments Destroy the NHS
Scandals concerning the NHS seem to be regular fare these days masking the brilliant work done by doctors and nurses often under extreme pressure.
Having to contend with idiotic cross-party politicking around the NHS serves to highlight what a superb job they do; two recent examples are illustrative.
Channel 4’s Dispatches went inside York General to discover how hospitals are fined if they miss critical time deadlines imposed on A&E.
In short, if your patient can’t be discharged or chucked in a skip before four hours is up and you have no spare beds, then the hospital is fined; where the money goes was unclear but most likely on another level of administrators and bean counters.
The net effect is that the fines cost us doctors and nurses putting more pressure on existing ones so the circle is perpetual.
More skips please!
Here’s another. Mid Staffs NHS has been a basket case for years with poor care and whistle blowers likely to have a fairer hearing with an audience with Kim Jong-Un.
Now the Government may be levying additional fines on an already bankrupt Trust or closing it completely. Who do you think suffers; the NHS Senior Management or doctors, nurses and patients?
1984
George Orwell’s classic was incredibly prophetic for 1949 but a few lines jumped out at me.
“The Party seeks power entirely for its own sake. We are not interested in the good of others; we are interested solely in power.”
Beware false promises.
Smoke And Mirrors
Somebody remarked on how smart I looked at the gym the other day.
I had to correct them; apparently dressed for the “power meeting”, it had been a quick coffee at Costa and business was never mentioned once amongst beer, cricket and sex.
The shirt was the same one I wore at a meeting the previous day which had been shorter than a quick wash cycle and my watch had not seen a battery in 4 years.
And although my phone rang on cue as if to prove I really was Wall Street Man it was just my mum updating me on the deaths column in the local rag.
Nothing is ever quite as it appears.
All Aboard the Gravy Train
Council Tax is going up, jobs are being cut but at least the public toilets in Ilkley are being saved; hail Cllr Green saving the posh folk from holding it in.
Interesting to note that in these times of austerity our Leader’s “cut” from the pot went up from £38,250 in 2011/12 to £47,604 in 2012/13, a 24.45% increase!
The number of hangers-on, sorry councillors, on the payroll is astounding. I counted 102 raking in a total of £1.764m which is an average of over £17k a year.
Many of this lot would barely command the minimum wage out in the real world. And as the nation only has around 650 MPs why does a dump like Bradford need this many councillors?
Govt Health Warning – Do Not Drink With This Man
The drinking game Neknominate has been linked to several deaths and the Local Government Association (LGA) called it a “totally irresponsible craze”.
A local follower of the cult – pictured – vigorously defended man’s right to act like a three year old and vomit on demand especially when the wife is away.
Pull The Other One
Sochi hype reached new levels as supporters of the sport of curling – bowls on ice – suggested that it was a great way to get fit because two of you had to frantically sweep with brushes!
How come Norah Batty looked like the back end of a bus then?
A Nod and a Wink
Apparently there’s a bar in Leeds for the smart set where all you need is a nod, a wink and it’s downstairs for a knee trembler. Imagine if The Scruffy introduced this?
A gallon of ale, a shift of the nose and down those cellar steps with Our Jackie never to return again.
I’ll stick to the pork scratchings!
Shock Horror! Girls Don’t Exercise!
Girls don’t do sport after they leave school according to the Government. That’s maybe because they don’t actually do sport when they are at school?
And Finallly – Dry Humour Spot
Mick the Quiz was on scintillating form the other night.
“What position did the GB bobsleigh team finish” he posed “…and sitting up is not the right answer!”
Paul Thompson says
A very good read matey! For you to ‘slag’ off your former employers takes some guts! What can you reveal about HSBC, RBS,etc would be very interesting!
p.s have you forgiven me yet for ‘the episode’ ?
Steve says
Mate I hope this is not “slagging off” because I owe the bank an awful lot. There are great people working their nuts off every day to keep the brand alive but the idiots at the top are too detached and greedy to understand everyday life.
As for the p.s. just hope you are in good shape and if thats the case then hope to see you at BVCC this summer…take care
Graham Morgan says
Hi Steve
I love the comment about girls and sport. Could you explain it to Sport England so that they stop wasting millions trying to get teenagers and adults back into the sports they have never ever taken up.
Cheers
Steve says
Hi Graham…spot on…utter waste of public money…see David Walsh in Sunday Times today for more…I am sure you wont mind me quoting you in next week’s blog?