Honoris Causa – Doctor of Letters

Durham Cathedral, 27 June 2008

Chistopher Lendrum,  a Cuth’s Economics graduate was Vice-Chairman of Barclays Bank. On 27 June 2008, the University of Durham awarded him with an honourary degree of Doctor of Letters.

A hazard to be contemplated by any young person about to enter certain professions or occupations is how the role is perceived by the public. Some perceptions are generated by great literature. When you consider the profession of our honorary graduand today, who entered the world of banking as a young graduate more than thirty years ago, you may be wracking your brains to remember which colossal literary figures ever wrote about bankers. Certainly Jerome K Jerome painted a rather laconic picture of George, the bank clerk, in Three Men in a Boat – “George goes to sleep in a bank from 10 to 4 each day except Saturday when they wake him up and put him outside at 2”.  By contrast, our young hopeful, armed with a first class honours degree from Durham, has enjoyed an impressive and fulfilling lifelong career with Barclays Bank. At the time of Chris Lendrum’s appointment in the 1960’s, Barclays was still dominated in its top management by members of the major Quaker families who had founded the Bank. Chris must have despaired of ever reaching the upper echelons of management when his early days with Barclays were spent in a branch in Croydon. There, his sole task for the first three months was to learn the signatures of all the customers and sort cheques in the back room.

As Chris Lendrum made progress in the bank, the roles and portfolios he held have been varied and challenging. Some of these related to modernisation of the bank’s processes. Some related to domestic agendas, such as a challenging portfolio setting rigorous targets for equality and diversity. Some related to the more global aspects of banking, permitting Chris to travel to all the continents of the world. On these journeys, he could have mused on Aphra Behn’s view that “money speaks sense in a language all nations understand”. Later, his roles related to aspects of Barclays’ business where the values and philosophy of the founders of the bank permeated his approach in relation to ethical trading, corporate responsibility, human rights and environmental impact, portfolios which demonstrate the breadth of his experience.

Throughout his career, Chris Lendrum has been recognised for his thoughtful, quiet, congenial and well mannered style which overlaid a very strong will and powerful inner drive. He was at the heart of a major bank through a period of unprecedented change, much of it led and encouraged by him. On his retirement from his executive role in the bank, he had risen to be the Vice Chairman of Barclays. He remains actively engaged with them, as he has taken on the chairmanship of the bank’s pension fund, which currently has thousands of pensioners and a fund of billions. He has seen attitudes to money, saving and spending change dramatically over the last forty years, so much so that the sardonic writing of Artemis Ward may now reflect the modern view – “Let us be happy and live within our means, even if we have to borrow the money to do it.”

It is not surprising that when semi retirement arrived, others realised that Chris Lendrum’s skills and talents could be employed in different ways. For example, he has recently been a member of the Capability Review into the Ministry of Defence which required him to travel to current theatres of service activity in Iraq and Afghanistan. There somehow seems to be a degree of incongruity in the thought of such a gentle, charming and courteous man being fitted with body armour.

Chris has sought all his life to work to the highest standards, and it seems he also knows how to play in the same way. His consuming hobby is the Aston Martin, and he is currently the chairman of the Aston Martin Heritage Trust. He owns a 1924 Aston Martin sidevalve tourer, one of the last to be produced by Lionel Martin. It had lain in a barn from 1957 until bought by Chris who organised its restoration. So perfect and successful has that work been, that in 2007 he carried off the Concours d’elegance in his particular class at the Pebble Beach event in the USA.

Throughout his career, Chris Lendrum has maintained his connections with Durham. He recalls being inspired by his tutors about the value of education. Perhaps further academic study might have beckoned had it not been for his impending marriage to a fellow Durham graduate. His background as the son of a printer may have influenced him to play an important role with the University on the History of the Book, and then subsequently, to take on a major role in relation to the University’s fund raising activities to mark its 175th birthday.

When you aspire to raise £175 million pounds, a prestigious banker would seem to be a very good choice to chair your appeal committee. And if the banker has global connections, and also close links with the organisation, all the better. This serendipidous synergy was in place when Durham university approached Chris Lendrum in preparation for marking the 175th anniversary of the university. That momentous birthday was last year, and it is a tribute to our honorary graduand today that not only did his committee reach the target in time, they exceeded it.

It is therefore fitting Mr Chancellor that I now present to you Christopher Lendrum to receive the degree of Doctor of Letters, honoris causa.

© Mrs Anne Galbraith, Durham University