Ex-Woolwich chief to leave Barclays with £1.68m payout

John Stewart, the former head of Woolwich, yesterday announced he was leaving Barclays, just two years after he brokered the £5.3bn deal to sell the former building society to Britain's third largest bank.

Mr Stewart, Barclays' deputy chief executive with responsibility for overseeing the integration of Woolwich, will leave after Barclays' AGM in April. He will not be directly replaced.

He is in line for a payout of £1.68m. This will include a one-off windfall of up to £900,000 for bedding down Woolwich and also a year's salary and bonus, which last year totalled £779,000.

Mr Stewart will be the third former Woolwich executive to leave Barclays in recent months. Standard Chartered hired Woolwich's former finance director, Richard Meddings, in October, and Lynne Peacock, currently chief executive of Woolwich, will leave in the first half of this year.

Barclays said Mr Stewart, 53, had decided to retire but City sources speculated that Matt Barrett, Barclays' chief executive, has been disappointed with the growth so far created by the acquisition of Woolwich.

One analyst said: "Barclays is on track to meet its targets from the integration, but we think there are holes in the targets. Barclays also appears to be disappointed that the Open Plan products, which were Woolwich's jewel in the crown, have ended up cannibalising more of Barclays existing business than it had hoped."

Another observer said: "It seems to be the case that the Woolwich people had a small company mentality and did not fit in with Barclays' culture."

Mr Stewart had been seen as a possible contender for several senior banking jobs, including most recently the chief executive's role at Abbey National. There has also been speculation that Mr Stewart could replace Mr Barrett. City sources said his record since joining Barclays has not been impressive enough to make him a likely choice.

John Varley, Barclays' finance director, is thought to be the most likely replacement to Mr Barrett. Mr Barrett, the Canadian who took the helm at Barclays in 1999, has been rumoured to be preparing to replace Sir Peter Middleton as chairman this summer.