Gazza kicks out
WHEN Barclays picked Bill Harrison to run BZW, its investment banking business, Nicholas Sibley (who had been BZW's taipan in Hong Kong) passed judgment: `It's like making Gazza captain of the Eng- land croquet team.' Since then Mr Harrison has played the man and not the ball. He has cleared out BZW's top management and hired new people by the dozen, with the topmost dozen enjoying seven-figure con- tracts. He has spent £45 million just on pay- ing his discards to leave, and his hirings and firings have put a dent in Barclays' profits. How many of the hosts at BZW's tenth birthday celebrations last year will be there for the 11th? Who will write the next chapter of BZW's specially commissioned history? This could be a job for a revisionist. Barclays' words for all this are upgrading and team- building. To build a team, though, requires continuity and loyalty, and these are qualities that have to work both ways.
Previous page
