Barclays appoints outgoing Royal Mail FD as non-exec director

Barclays has appointed Royal Mail's outgoing finance director, Matthew Lester, as a non-executive director with effect from 1 September.

Lester, who is due to step down from Royal Mail after the company’s annual general meeting on Thursday, currently serves on the boards of Capita and Man Group as a non-executive director, where he also chairs the Board Audit and Risk Committee.

He has been chief financial officer at Royal Mail since 2010 and served as group finance director of ICAP between 2006 and 2010. Prior to this, he held various executive management positions at Diageo, including treasurer and group financial controller.

Chairman John McFarlane said: "He will bring strong financial skills as well as experience of the financial services sector. He is a very welcome addition to the Barclays board."

At 1450 BST, Barclays shares were up 0.5% to 206.12p.