Recognising colleagues' extraordinary efforts amid COVID-19

Northolt Centre team

The U.K.-based Northolt Centre team was recognised for working around the clock to build a trading floor from scratch in just five days at the start of the crisis. The centre, which would normally have taken three to six months to establish, had room for roughly 250 staff.

"I assembled a team of people who had never worked together before, and everybody jelled immediately, everybody knew the timeframe concerned, and everybody just got on with their own speciality,” said Malcolm Brooke, Group Chief Controls Office. “This was a true team effort – whether it was colleagues in our front office or colleagues in support functions, this was a 'one Barclays' success story."

Agnes Cheung, Resilience Partner, Barclays International

Agnes Cheung was recognised for her efforts to keep colleagues in Hong Kong safe amid the pandemic and ongoing protests.

Her role involves monitoring events outside of Barclays that could have an impact on the office, and then channeling that information to the crisis leadership team. Each morning, she ensures external developments – and any impacts to Barclays operations – are communicated effectively and clearly to staff. She had already been busy following the Hong Kong protests since June 2019, but when the COVID-19 crisis emerged in January 2020, she redoubled her efforts.

“We needed someone as calm, collected and organised as Agnes to arm us with the right information in order to make the best decisions for the firm and the colleagues," said Anita Chan, Chief Operating Officer, Hong Kong.