Barclays 2005 Annual Report Download - page 12

Barclays PLC
Annual Report 2005
10
Group Chief Executive’s review continued
Our presence
The second pillar of our activities is the
business spread and geographical presence
that we continue to build. We have two
principal sources of earnings diversification:
the first is in core banking activities outside
the United Kingdom, of which Africa and
Spain would be the best examples.
The second is through the development of
our global businesses; investment banking,
asset management, wealth management
and credit cards.
In 2005, about 40% of our profits came from
outside the United Kingdom. Over time we
would like to see this percentage increase.
We expect the plans we have for our existing
portfolio of businesses to enable us to
achieve an approximately even balance
between UK and international profits over
the next three years.
We believe that we should ensure that
our shareholders, through investing in
Barclays, have appropriate exposure to the
fastest growing economies in the world.
By consequence, we continue to invest in
Asia through Barclays Capital and Barclays
Global Investors, which represent our
principal sources of activity in that part of
the world. During 2005, we opened a branch
in Shanghai, adding to our representative
office in Beijing; and our Indian business
grew quickly, in particular in the area of debt
issuance on behalf of Indian companies.
We are – and will continue to be – selective
about where we do business. The standard
we set ourselves is that where we choose to
operate, we are in a position to compete
with the best in the world.
Our people
The third pillar of our business – our people
– is fundamental to what we do. Barclays
has been in business for over 300 years.
The common thread running through its
long history is that of relationships, and
strong business relationships depend on
talented people. Recruiting, developing and
retaining the best people is a strategic
imperative for us, and we direct a lot of
time and effort at nurturing what we call
‘franchise health’: in other words, the
standing of Barclays in the minds of our
people, our customers and the communities
in which we live and work. We measure our
people’s level of engagement regularly
through our employee opinion surveys.
The results of the 2005 survey continued
the positive trend of recent years, with good
progress in employee engagement and pride
in Barclays.
Our investment in people reflects a broader
cultural change in our business. As we grow
and as we diversify, it is important that the
people of Barclays reflect the customers,
clients and societies which we serve.
Central to the service ethic are two things:
first that we must lift our performance,
month by month and year by year. This is
an intensively competitive industry, and
our customers and clients have the right
to expect us to be good at what we do.
Second, we take pride in being successful,
because if we are successful as an
organisation, then we contribute
significantly to the societies in which we
work. It is important for all our stakeholders
– be they pensioners, employees, customers
or governments – that Barclays does well.
Long-term success, as well as good short
term performance, depends on having the
right strategy and executing it effectively.
Our performance in 2005 shows that we
are doing what we said we would. We have
accelerated the pace at which we execute
our strategy because the strategy is a good
one, and it is serving our shareholders and
customers well.
It is good to be able to report record profits
in 2005. However, it is more important
still to be able to say that a portfolio of
good businesses, along with a growing
geographical presence and the talent of
great people, position us well for the future.
John Varley
Group Chief Executive
”