Highlights
Some of our biggest aims and achievements in Sustainability, across the business.
The latest highlights of our work in this area will feature in Barclays Sustainability Review, published in April 2009.
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- Our innovative CreditFocus product is available free of charge to business owners across the UK, including those who are not Barclays customers. The online system allows users to check the credit ratings of their customers and suppliers.
- An initiative dedicated to meeting the specific needs of Sovereign Wealth Funds launched in 2008. It brings clients an individual, bespoke service including products and expertise from Barclays Capital, Barclays Global Investors and Barclays Wealth, the three divisions of Barclays Investment Banking and Investment Management Cluster.
Related links
- Our innovative CreditFocus product is available free of charge to business owners across the UK, including those who are not Barclays customers. The online system allows users to check the credit ratings of their customers and suppliers.
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- We have forged a unique partnership, supporting traditional money collectors in Ghana with formal accounts, loans and training. Susu collectors help local business owners keep their money safe, by collecting it daily and returning it at the end of the month, taking an agreed sum as a fee.
- Since 2007 we have supported a programme inviting representatives from community development finance institutions (CDFIs) across the UK to seminars on financial best practice. We also offer grants, which allow CDFI representatives to share their knowledge with individuals who are struggling with their finances.
Related links
- We have forged a unique partnership, supporting traditional money collectors in Ghana with formal accounts, loans and training. Susu collectors help local business owners keep their money safe, by collecting it daily and returning it at the end of the month, taking an agreed sum as a fee.
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- Barclays Global Investors and Absa, majority-owned by Barclays, moved into new headquarters in 2008. Both sites, BGI’s in San Francisco, USA, and Absa’s in Johannesburg, South Africa, were built with the highest environmental standards in mind.
- We attained carbon neutral status across our European operations in 2008. In 2009, we aim to achieve carbon neutrality across the Barclays Group worldwide.
Related links
- Barclays Global Investors and Absa, majority-owned by Barclays, moved into new headquarters in 2008. Both sites, BGI’s in San Francisco, USA, and Absa’s in Johannesburg, South Africa, were built with the highest environmental standards in mind.
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- Through our ongoing relationship with lesbian, gay and bisexual equality charity Stonewall, Barclays has sponsored guides on issues such as civil partnerships and anti-discrimination legislation. We were rated one of the top five UK private sector employers for gay, lesbian and bisexual colleagues in the 2009 Stonewall Workplace Equality Index league table.
- In January 2009, a Women’s Leadership Programme in our Global Retail and Commercial Banking Emerging Markets Business Unit launched, with five women from countries including Tanzania and Botswana starting secondments at the division’s head office in Dubai, UAE.
- Through our ongoing relationship with lesbian, gay and bisexual equality charity Stonewall, Barclays has sponsored guides on issues such as civil partnerships and anti-discrimination legislation. We were rated one of the top five UK private sector employers for gay, lesbian and bisexual colleagues in the 2009 Stonewall Workplace Equality Index league table.
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- In 2008, we co-chaired the United Nations Environment Programme Finance Initiative’s Human Rights Work Stream for the second year running. We also launched an online tool which provides corporate lenders with a simple means of identifying human rights risks in business relationships and transactions.
- As part of our ongoing Community Investment programme, in November 2008 we announced a three-year partnership with charity Unicef. Over the period we will invest £5m to help build brighter futures for children in nine countries including India, Zambia, the Philippines and Mexico.
Related links
- In 2008, we co-chaired the United Nations Environment Programme Finance Initiative’s Human Rights Work Stream for the second year running. We also launched an online tool which provides corporate lenders with a simple means of identifying human rights risks in business relationships and transactions.
