Barclays Wealth under pressure

Glasgow-based Barclays Wealth has hit back at concerns it is losing more staff after investment manager Rosie Daniels resigned.

The firm confirmed it had hired at least three new staff in recent months, including Mark McCue from Brewin Dolphin, Chris Arbuthnott from Kleinwort Benson and Laura Fox McMenamin who will join from Royal Bank of Scotland.

Arbuthnott has already joined the Aberdeen office, where McCue will also start in August following a period of gardening leave. The firm said assets under management in Aberdeen have doubled in the past 12 months.

Fox McMenamin will join the wealth manager in June in the new role of head of business development. She was formerly in the same position at RBS and will support the teams in Glasgow, Edinburgh and Aberdeen.

In all, Barclays said it has hired 27 people in the past three years, in addition to five graduates.

Mark Little, managing director, Scotland & Northern Ireland for Barclays Wealth, said he was "particularly pleased" with growth in Aberdeen.

He said: "Barclays Wealth will be making further important announcements in the coming weeks while we continue to actively recruit additional bankers in Glasgow and Edinburgh."

Last month, Barclays lost Catherine McMorrin, a senior private banker from its Glasgow office, the latest in a string of high-profile departures from the wealth manager's Scottish operation over the past few years.

Little recently questioned how the large number of wealth managers that have set up shop in Scotland over the past three years can attract enough clients, given that the market is not growing.