Barclays sacks boss Antony Jenkins in row over strategy

July-8 Antony Jenkins, the chief executive of Barclays, has been fired after falling out with the board over the pace of the bank's cost cutting.

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

Chairman John McFarlane said the bank needed to become more efficient: "What we need is profit improvement. Barclays is not efficient. We are cumbersome."

In a statement, Barclays said a "new set of skills" was required at the top.

Mr Jenkins has been Barclays' chief executive since 2012. The bank said a search for his successor was under way.

Barclays' chairman John McFarlane has been named executive chairman until Mr Jenkins' successor is appointed.

Mr McFarlane told Kamal Ahmed, the BBC's business editor, that Mr Jenkins skill set had been suitable when he took the top post but that the firm's needs had changed.

When the BBC asked him about future job cuts, he did not rule them out.

Nor did he rule out the possibility of branch closures.

"Inevitably, banks are going to have fewer branches than they have now," Mr McFarlane said.

He also told the BBC that Barclays would not renew the famous Barclays premier league sponsorship when it expires later this year.

Source: BBC