Lawrence Gaston

• BA French and German, Royal Holloway, 2005-08
• Other global retail bank, 2008-09
• Aston Business School, 2009-10
• Other global retail bank, 2010-11
• Joined Barclays in 2011

What we do

Retail and Business Banking is the division of Barclays people will be most familiar with. It's what's on the high street offering savings, deposits, loans, mortgages and credit cards to individuals and businesses. It's our role to ensure our products, and the way that we offer them, are the best.

My role

I am currently working within the corporate financial planning and analysis team. We analyse the business's overall performance, and provide our research to the board of Barclays to help inform their decision making. I work with all the teams to understand how the whole business operates. That way I know exactly what's going on and can provide the best possible analysis.

My graduate programme

I'm on the Future Leaders Development Programme, which consists of four six-month rotations. I spent the first in our market risk hedging team where I worked on my technical skills, before moving to work with the chief of staff for Barclays Finance, a role where you get to see how you run an institution like Barclays.

The programme is about building your understanding of leadership as much as imparting technical knowledge of banking.

Working across Barclays

It's really emphasised that we're one Barclays. I work with the investment bank every day, as well working on other projects alongside the corporate, retail and wealth divisions. Every part of the business has different skill sets, and you can achieve so much when you get everyone's expertise around the table.

Qualities you need to work here

This is a leadership scheme, so you need to be someone who wants to lead. I've found you need to be self-motivated, ambitious and good at working with others. So much in banking is changing at the moment and it's important to challenge yourself to have a real impact on how we do business.