Barclays 2011 Annual Report Download - page 21

The strategic report Governance Risk management Financial review Financial statements Shareholder information
Our Citizenship strategy
Understanding our role within society
Banks play an integral role in society. Without a strong banking sector,
economies and communities cannot thrive. We believe that the
creation of sustainable value is particularly important in challenging
economic times. Businesses, especially banks, need to help create jobs
and foster growth. To do this effectively, we are working to rebuild trust
and focus on the interests of the customers, clients and communities.
Barclays PLC Annual Report 2011 www.barclays.com/annualreport 19
The way we do business
We seek to reinforce our
integrity every day in the way
that we manage our business
and treat our customers.
The interests of our customers and clients
are at the heart of what we do, and we strive
to improve the service that we provide. UK
Banking complaints reported to the FSA
(excluding PPI) fell 30% year on year, but we
recognise we have more to do to in this area.
We make responsible decisions in how we
govern the business and treat our colleagues
(see page 53), and actively manage the
social and environmental impacts of what we
do. As part of our Climate Action Programme,
we have committed to reduce our carbon
emissions by 4% by 2013.
Supporting our communities
Our role in the communities
goes far beyond what we
deliver through our core
business activities.
The future success of communities and
economies is reliant on the next generation
having the right skills. We focus on
empowering young people with the
necessary financial, entrepreneurial and life
skills to achieve financial independence and
security. In 2011, we invested £63.5m in
community programmes which reached
over two million people. These activities
were supported by 73,000 colleagues who
donated their time, skills and money to
support community causes.
Contributing to growth
We operate a profitable
business helping individuals,
businesses and institutions
to pursue their goals.
We are committed to increasing lending to
businesses and have exceeded our Project
Merlin targets in the UK. Of the £43.6bn
delivered, £14.7bn was provided to SMEs.
We raised over US$1trillion in funding for
institutions, including US$388bn for
governments and public sector entities. In a
difficult year for the Eurozone, we were the
leading manager of bonds for the European
Financial Stability Mechanism. We also help
individuals to manage their money, and last
year supported 10,000 people in buying their
first home.
Case study: supporting UK SMEs
In 2011, we helped over 100,000 businesses
to start up and our nationwide seminars
provided practical business advice to over
14,000 people. We were one of the first banks
to respond to the riots in UK communities in
August, helping assess cash flow impact and
offering temporary overdrafts.
We are holding ‘lending clinics’ across the
UK, answering questions on lending and the
loan application process, to provide small
businesses with the confidence to invest
for growth.
Case study: customer satisfaction
We worked to improve customer satisfaction
across the business during 2011.
For example, in the UK, our corporate bank
ranked first for client satisfaction amongst
peers and a division in our wealth
management business won ‘Best Customer
Experience Award in Financial Services’ in the
Customer Experience Awards. Our UK retail
bank improved customer satisfaction ranking
to fourth amongst peers and received the
Which? Award for ‘Positive Change’.
Case study: empowering young people
Our partnership with Youth Business
International (YBI) helps young people start
their own businesses and create employment.
YBI works with young people to provide
access to capital, training, mentoring and
other business development services.
This benefits 50,000 young entrepreneurs
in 34 countries.
Our employees volunteer in a variety of
ways, including mentoring and providing
professional support.