THE former chairman of Standard Life Aberdeen and its forerunner Standard Life is to relinquish the chairmanship of Barclays Bank as well as his position as a director at the wider Barclays group at the end of this month.

Sir Gerry Grimstone, who handed over the Standard Life Aberdeen chairmanship to Sir Douglas Flint in January, will be succeeded in the Barclays Bank position by Nigel Higgins, who was named as incoming chairman of the Barclays group last year.

Having joined both Barclays and Barclays Bank as deputy chairman in 2016, Sir Gerry became chairman of the banking arm amid a reshuffle that took place in the early part of last year. He remained a non-executive on the group’s board as part of that move.

Outgoing group chairman John McFarlane, who Sir Gerry had been widely tipped to replace, paid tribute to the “enormous contribution” Sir Gerry has made to Barclays during the past three years.

“He has been very active in, and passionate about, the international business of the bank and our major customers,” he said. “I appreciate everything he has done for the company and his support of me, and I wish him well.”

Sir Gerry, who remains a non-executive director at accountancy giant Deloitte, said that after giving up his 12-year chairmanship at Standard Life Aberdeen he felt that now was “an appropriate moment for a change”.

“Going forward, I will be concentrating on my public sector activities in the UK, my work with Deloitte in Europe and globally, my work in the Gulf, India, China and elsewhere in Asia-Pacific,” he said.

The move comes as Mr McFarlane prepares to hand the chairmanship of the Barclays group to Mr Higgins in May.

Mr Higgins will join the group from Rothschild & Co, where he has spent his entire career and currently serves as deputy chairman.