Legal commercial optimisation
Barclays has been in the midst of a two-year programme of change, focused on introducing transparency to the legal function regarding its costs and commercial performance for the business. GC caught up with general counsel Bob Hoyt’s chief of staff, Alison Gaskins, at the bank’s headquarters in London to learn how this process has played out and where to from here.
Alison Gaskins’ remit on joining Barclays’ legal department was formidable. Group general counsel Bob Hoyt told her in no uncertain terms, ‘I want to be able to have a conversation with my CEO which clearly states what the legal department is doing for its internal customers, including what it costs and why it costs what it does.’ A former management consultant with over ten years’ experience in COO and change management roles at Barclays, even Gaskins was initially daunted by the scope of this request.
