Barclays Capital, the investment banking division of Barclays, has been forced to defend its record as an equal opportunities employer after it emerged that it had promoted 80 managing directors, of which only five are women.

BarCap, which employs about 15,700 staff across offices in 26 countries, took out a full-page advertisement in the Financial Times yesterday to announce the promotions, which covered public relations executives as well as bankers in locations from London and New York to Madrid and Singapore.

The investment banking unit, led by Bob Diamond, specialises in the corporate credit markets and has been one of the fastest-growing City employers. It accounts for more than a third of Barclays’ annual profits, which last year topped £7 billion, and employs a little under half the group’s 33,000 staff.

Two of the new female BarCap MDs are in London. The other three are based in New York, Jakarta and Singapore.

Employment commentators said that the promotions underscored the perception of the City remaining a male-dominated environment. Nevertheless, they were loath to judge BarCap, pointing out that the decision about whether to pursue a banking career is also a lifestyle choice, tending to involve long hours and a gruelling travel schedule, albeit for considerable financial rewards. It emerged yesterday that, after meeting performance targets, Mr Diamond was on course to collect a £14.8 million payout covering the past three years. The payout means that Mr Diamond is likely to have received about £75 million in pay, cash bonuses and share awards since he joined the board in 2005.

Heather McGregor, a director of Taylor Bennett, the recruitment consultant, said: “Investment banks do struggle to find women for senior positions because very often women have other agendas and choose not to make their careers a priority.”

Of the 358 executive directors at FTSE 100 firms, only 14 — less than 4 per cent — are female, according to Manifest, the proxy shareholder voting specialist.

A spokeswoman for The Equalities and Human Rights Commission said that it was disappointed but not surprised by the lack of female appointees at BarCap: “It’s not a simple question of discrimination — it’s also about working practices.”

Siobhan Loftus, a media relations executive at Barclays Capital and one of the new managing directors, defended the promotions, which she said were based entirely on merit. “We are a meritocracy. In our diversity policy we would hope to promote irrespective of any gender bias,” she said.

“We would always look for the best person for the job. We want to provide an environment where people feel comfortable irrespective of their background, gender, sexuality or race.”

Norwegians would

Lack of women candidates is no excuse in Norway, where boardrooms must have ample female content or risk being closed down.

Legislation requiring 40 per cent of board directors to be women came into force at the begining of the year and the deadline has caused a minor panic in the business community, with companies scouring the country for suitable people.

Norway’s business community originally opposed the measure in 2003, but since then its weak representation of 7 per cent female directors has risen to 36 per cent of the 2,800 seats in its public companies. Second in the diversity ranking is Sweden, with 19 per cent female representation. America comes third with 15 per cent. Only 11 per cent of British directors are female.

Norway’s female-friendly work ethic is apparent in its huge offshore oil industry, where women are seen much more commonly on rigs and platforms than in the UK sector of the North Sea, which remains largely a man’s world.

However, representation in senior management is still weak and Norway’s companies struggled to meet the numbers. (Carl Mortished)

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