Barclays Wealth hires ex Kleinwort Benson wealth boss Scott

Barclays Wealth has hired former Kleinwort Benson Glasgow wealth boss Gordon Scott (pictured).

Scott joins Barclays Wealth as director within the bank's Glasgow team. He joins after a three months gardening leave following his stint with Kleinwort Benson where he served as head of private wealth management for three years.

Prior to this he worked as a private client manager at Standard Life, where he served for over a decade. In his new role he will report into Calum Brewster, director, UK & Ireland private bank, Scotland.

The move follows a number of appointments at Barclays Wealth, which is following through on a plan internally codenamed Project Gamma and aims to make the firm one of the five biggest private banks in the world.  As part of the initiative Barclays expects to double the number of private bankers from around 650 in 2010 to 1,300 by 2015.

Its Guernsey Intermediary and Institutional Solutions (IIWS) wing added four new faces at the start of the year, while earlier in the week the ultra high net worth team received a boost with the appointment of Rupert Howard, Rothschild Private Management's former head of UK Portfolio Management.

Barclays Wealth said it was  undertaking a £350 million global investment programme over the next four years, 40% of which is being invested in people. It already employs some 2,200 staff in Scotland, the bank said.

Craig Jamieson, head of Barclays Wealth Glasgow described the appointment of Scott as a ‘coup’, and said: ‘His appointment is testament to the strength of our proposition and ability to attract the best talent in the industry. We are pleased to welcome someone of Gordon’s calibre to our team.’

He pointed to Scott’s network of contacts across Scotland as an influencing force behind the appointment, adding: ‘[He] will be able to assist greatly with our ambitious growth plans with key business influencers and high net worth clients.’