Barclays transfers Lithuanian operations to HCL

Barclays has expanded its relationship with IT services firm HCL in a new deal that will see the bank close an operations centre in Lithuania.

About 460 Barclays staff based in Lithuania will transfer to HCL when the operations centre closes. Those not being transferred will be offered redundancy. HCL plans to expand the number of services it offers from Lithuania as a result. The deal needs regulatory approval and is expected to be completed early next year.

“We were the first foreign company to establish its service centre in Lithuania, leading to other large foreign companies basing themselves here. We are proud to have been a key part of the rise of the IT and service sector, including complex operations management,” said Mariano Andrade Gonzalez, the head of Barclays operations in Lithuania.

“While aiming to achieve the highest quality of business and services, we continuously review our operations in accordance with the long-term global strategy of Barclays. As one of the steps towards the implementation of this strategy, a decision has been made to optimise operations, meaning a number of roles could transfer to HCL Technologies, with whom we have worked closely for a few years. We chose HCL Technologies because we know the company well, we trust it and, together with our people, it shares our values, culture and ways of working,” adds Mr Gonzalez.

HCL intends to use the deal to expand its IT services in Lithuania.

“Our partnership with Barclays is a significant endorsement of HCL’s digital workplace and automation capabilities. This new agreement will see HCL deliver transformational services to both Barclays and other major clients from Lithuania. Many well-known brands have already established their centres in Lithuania and we see good potential here due to the attractive investment climate and specialist talent. We will leverage these with our unique Mode 1-2-3 strategy to enable clients to reimagine their businesses for the digital age,” said Rahul Singh, president of financial services at HCL Technologies.