Barclays has made five new appointments to its trade team. All the positions are newly-created roles and mark the latest stage in the rapid growth of Barclays offering in trade finance.

Three of the new appointments are directors based outside Barclays headquarters in London. Eric Balish, based in Glasgow, will build the Barclays International Cash and Trade Solutions business in Scotland, while Mark Lonsdale and Mike Skelton will be based in Manchester and will drive business growth in the Northwest of England. All three have joined from Royal Bank of Scotland.

In addition, Mark Naylor and Kevin Butler join as directors in the International Trade and Cash Solutions team based in London. Naylor joins from UOP, a multinational corporate and Butler from Allied Irish Bank.

Barclays has claimed to recently commit to delivering renewed growth in its trade business through the expansion of its team. In September, Ray Zabarte was appointed as trade product director, Barclays Business Banking, following a number of other hires earlier in the year.

Stephen McNeil, head of trade finance sales, Barclays Business Banking, says: “I’m delighted by the calibre of professionals who have joined the team. The rapid growth of the team is testament to the importance of trade finance to Barclays. We will continue to look at recruiting experienced trade financiers as well as building on our own talent to realise our ambitions of expanding Barclays trade business while improving our services and developing our products.”