News

Thursday 14 December 2006

New retail banking degree launched

Barclays has joined forces with Nottingham Trent University to sponsor the country’s first retail banking degree. The BA (Hons) Business Management (Retail Banking) – run by the University’s Nottingham Business School – places employability and workplace performance at the centre of its course design.  

The course enables students to combine their academic development and work-based application.  Modules include marketing, financial, and human resources management, business systems, organisation design, strategic thinking and practice, corporate strategy and strategic analysis.

Students will spend the first year studying full-time at Nottingham Business School, which will give them a thorough grounding in personal and professional skills and the business disciplines. Years Two and Three will be spent on study blocks at the Business School as well as on a series of work placements designed to complement and support the course. These work placements will take place in Barclays branches and will enable students to gain customer relationship, sales and management skills.

Alongside work experience in its retail network, Barclays will offer students full funding of tuition fees and a full-time position after graduating. The students will form and run their own business during the course.

Barclays and Nottingham Business School also run a BA (Hons) in Leadership – another UK first – which is available to Barclays employees to develop their leadership skills.

Senior Lecturer in Corporate Business at Nottingham Business School, Regina Wojciechowska, said: “We are delighted to be further developing our partnership with Barclays who have chosen to work with us because of our responsive and business-orientated attitude.  This programme is an innovative and exciting approach to developing a pipeline of leadership talent for retail banking roles.”

Gary Hoffman, Group Vice-Chairman, Barclays, said: "We are very proud to have launched this new programme.  It provides students with a great opportunity to get relevant work experience and kick start their career after graduating.

“The programme also helps Barclays secure a supply of talented, high calibre graduates to work in our branch network which is great for our business."

ENDS

For more information please contact Dave Rogers, Press Officer, on telephone +44 (0)115 848 8782, or via email: dave.rogers@ntu.ac.uk.

Or Therese Easom, Press and Media Relations Manager, on telephone +44 (0)115 848 8774, or via email: therese.easom@ntu.ac.uk.