Awards and recognition

Barclays gained many awards in 2007 for our progress on sustainability issues. Some of these are set out below:

Sustainable bank

• Barclays, under the Woolwich brand, was named the top mortgage lender for customer empathy in a league table compiled by UK customer consultancy Harding & York.
• Highly commended in the Business in the Community Marketplace Impact Award 2007 for our microfinance work in Ghana.
• Absa was rated number one financial services company for contribution to development by Trialogue.
• Barclays Commercial Bank was awarded 'Best Commercial Mortgage Provider' and 'Best Leasing & Asset Finance Provider' by Business Moneyfacts.
• Barclays Commercial Bank was named Corporate Bank of the Year in the South West region. The award recognises the combined strength of Barclays corporate and leveraged finance proposition.
• Barclays Commercial Bank was voted Business Bank of the Year at the UK's Accountancy Age Awards in recognition of its dedication to clients.
• Barclays Commercial Bank was named Debt Provider of the Year at the Deals of the Year Awards organised by EN magazine.
• Call Centre Focus magazine European Call Centre of the Year 2007.
• Best Customer Relationship Centre 2007 award in Portugal from the Portuguese Call Centre Association.
• Barclaycard OnePulse was recognised as one of the world's most innovative banking cards in the Oscard international awards for the credit card industry.
• Barclays Head of Environmental Risk Management, Chris Bray, received an accolade for his lifetime achievements from the United Nations Environment Programme Finance Initiative. The award honoured Chris’s commitment to sharing his expertise in environmental risk management with financial institutions globally.
• Barclays Kenya was named East Africa’s Most Respected Company in the financial services sector in a PricewaterhouseCoopers survey.
• Absa Islamic Bank was recognised as the best Islamic bank offering within a conventional bank in World Finance magazine's first global awards.
• Deanna Oppenheimer, Chief Executive UK Retail Banking at Barclays, was named Britain's Business Communicator of the Year by the British Association of Communicators in Business (CiB).
• Barclays was awarded Anti-Fraud Strategy of the Year at the Financial Sector Technology Awards which recognise the best use of new technologies to improve business processes.
• Barclays under the Woolwich mortgage brand was named Best First Time Buyer at the Your Mortgage awards.
• Named Best Small Business Bank Account by Start Your Business magazine.

Responsible global citizen

• Business in the Community Environmental Leadership Award 2007.
• Leading bank in the Dow Jones Sustainability Index for environmental reporting.
• Intelligent Giving website recorded Barclays as one of the top three UK companies supporting employees who give time and money to charity.
• Absa was rated one of South Africa's top five employers in the Best Employers in South Africa 2007 survey.
• Barclays was recognised for its best practice industrial relations in a Union Network International survey, which assessed the approach of 25 financial companies globally.
• Barclays Spain's employee community programme was ranked number two in Spain by Fundacion Empresa y Sociedad.
• Our partnership with Crisis won a Business in the Community Big Tick award.
• Business in the Community's BUPA Healthy Communities Award for Spaces for Sports.
• Hollis Sponsorship Award for Spaces for Sports 2007.
• Sport England's Community Programme of the Year Award.
• Charities Aid Foundation Community Investment Awards for 'most effective stakeholder engagement' and 'most effective company giving'.
• Barclays Commercial Bank's initiative to promote the health, safety and well-being of its colleagues was honoured at the UK’s National Business Awards.
• Barclays Zimbabwe won the Harare Chamber of Commerce award for the Best HIV/AIDS Programme.
• Barclays was recognised by The Times newspaper as one of the top places in the UK where women want to work.
• Barclays was ranked 8th in the 2007 FTSE4Good Environmental leaders in Europe 40 index.