Barclays Bank hands public affairs brief to Cicero Consulting

The appointment, which follows a pitch process revealed by PRWeek, sees Cicero take on the unified role of handling Barclays’ group public affairs account alongside the existing work it does for investment banking arm Barclays Capital.

Cicero is understood to have pitched against Lansons Communications, Portland and Weber Shandwick. The brief is understood to be worth a large six-figure sum.

Announcing the appointment, Cyrus Ardalan, Barclays’ vice-chairman UK & EU government relations, said Weber Shandwick would continue to provide public affairs advice in Scotland.

Cicero has worked on Barclays Capital since 2008, while Weber Shandwick has handled Barclays’ group lobbying for about a decade.

Cicero director and chief corporate counsel Iain Anderson said the job came at ‘a very important time for banking, not least because of the significant regulatory changes that the Government has planned’.