Barclays appoints Standard Life's Gerry Grimstone as deputy chairman

Barclays said Standard Life chairman Sir Gerry Grimstone will succeed Sir Michael Rake as senior independent director and deputy chairman with effect from January next year.

Rake, who announced in July that he was leaving the bank to become chairman of payments processor Worldpay, will step down as a director at Barclays with effect from 31 December 2015.

Grimstone has been chairman of Standard Life since May 2007, having previously been appointed deputy chairman in March 2006. He is also an independent non-executive board member of Deloitte LLP and the lead non‑executive at the Ministry of Defence.

Grimstone spent 13 years with Schroders in London, Hong Kong and New York, and was vice chairman of the company’s worldwide investment banking activities.

Since then he has served on the boards of Bridgewell Group Limited, F&C Global Smaller Companies and more recently of Wilmington Capital Limited, Candover Investments and TheCityUK.

Chairman John McFarlane said: "Sir Gerry commands great respect within the financial services industry and will bring immense experience, integrity and knowledge to the role."

At the end of last month, Barclays confirmed the appointment of former JP Morgan investment banking head Jes Staley as its new chief executive, replacing Anthony Jenkins almost four months after he was ousted by the bank.

At 1422 GMT, Barclays shares were up 1.8% at 236.55p.