Barclays Wealth and Investment Management has opened a new office in Newcastle’s Quayside, bringing all of Barclays banking operations in the region under one roof. The move follows the announcement earlier this month that the wealth and management business of the bank would no longer exist as a standalone entity.

Barclays Wealth and Investment Management has opened a new office in Newcastle’s Quayside, bringing all of Barclays banking operations in the region under one roof. The move follows the announcement earlier this month that the wealth and management business of the bank would no longer exist as a standalone entity.

It sees the wealth and investment management team at Barclays relocate from its premises in Cross House, Westgate Road, together with their corporate banking colleagues from its former Grey Street premises, Barclays said in a statement.

The move comes after Barclays opened new offices in Southampton and St Albans at the beginning of the year.

“We are delighted to open a new office at this prestigious new development in Newcastle to support our large number of clients in the region. As a combined team, we will be well-placed to advise across a wide range of circumstances: from entrepreneurs looking to take the next step with their business or families seeking support on inheritance and succession planning,” said Andrew Miller, regional director for Barclays Wealth and Investment Management in Newcastle.

Barclays has already rationalized its wealth management operations to cut costs; it has also raised the minimums required for clients to hold a wealth management account, a move similar to that taken by a number of banks facing rising regulatory costs in the UK and overseas.

The bank said earlier this month that the wealth and investment business of the bank – containing what had once been called Barclays Wealth – will no longer exist as a standalone entity.

Under the new structure, the bank will have just four divisions, including personal and corporate banking, Barclaycard, Africa Banking and the investment bank.

A spokesperson for Barclays told this publication that the strategy of the wealth and investment management business of the bank “remains unchanged” and said performance of this division has been robust, particularly when the cost impact of restructuring is taken out of the numbers.

Recent figures suggest the wealth arm of the firm is progressing. Earlier this month, the bank said its wealth and investment arm logged a 15 per cent year-on-year fall in pre-tax profit to £51 million ($86.2 million) in the first three months of 2014, affected by the cost of its Transform programme. However, when that process is excluded, pre-tax profits rose 22 per cent over that period.