Sir John Quinton (Chairman 1987-1992)

John Grand Quinton (1929-2012), was the son of a Barclays branch manager. Educated at Norwich School and at Cambridge, he was, like Frederick Goodenough and Edwin Fisher, a banking meritocrat, though unlike them, a graduate.

Quinton joined Barclays at Norwich in 1953, and there followed spells with Inspection department, at the Staff Training Centre, appointments at Piccadilly and King’s Cross branches, a secondment in Paris, and a stint as local directors’ assistant at Liverpool. In 1968, he was seconded to the civil service as a principal officer, preparing the case for the ultimately unsuccessful 1968 ‘super-merger’ between Barclays, Martins and Lloyds, but returned to Barclays as assistant general manager with special responsibility for the subsequent merger with Martins. A local directorship at Nottingham was soon followed by regional general manager-ships for the north-east in 1971 and for London in 1973. In 1975 he was appointed as a general manager and in 1982 became the senior general manager. A vice-chairmanship in 1985 was soon followed by the deputy chairmanship the same year.

Quinton's chairmanship spanned a period of turbulence in the banking world. Following a national recession, Barclays recorded its first (and only) published loss in 1992, and undertook a major rationalisation programme. This included both the UK branch network and the overseas businesses, notably the sale of the remaining retail banking operations in North America. Major internal reorganizations were also carried out during his period in office.

Knighted in 1990, in May 1992, Quinton relinquished his executive duties (Andrew Buxton being appointed with the title of chief executive), but continued as non-executive Chair until the end of the year, being succeeded in both roles by Buxton. He held the chairs of the Chief Executive Officers of the Committee of London Clearing Bankers, the Advisory Council of the London Enterprise Agency and of the Office of the Banking Ombudsman. He was treasurer of Business in the Community and a member of the CBI Central Council. Interested in the arts and in football, Quinton was a trustee of the Royal Academy, fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, governor of the Royal Shakespeare Theatre, and non-executive chairman of the FA Premier League from 1992 to 1999, of which Barclays was the sponsor.