Barclays has been a valued supporter of the Taylor Bennett Foundation (TBF) Summer Stars programme since it’s pilot year in 2018. TBF’s Summer Stars Programme is a unique internship programme, that links candidates from a black, Asian and minority ethnic background with paid internships offered by in-house communications teams and agencies.

Barclays have hosted seven interns in total. In 2019, two of the interns secured jobs with Barclays as a Media Relations Associate in the Barclays Investment Bank team and as a Graduate Marketing Analyst. The interns from 2020 completed their internships remotely due to the COVID-19 Pandemic and will be joining Barclays in 2021 in permanent roles in the Marketing Graduate Scheme.

Simon Hailes, Barclays Director of Group Media Relations (2020), said:

“The Taylor Bennett Foundation’s Summer Stars programme has been a great success again this year. Having welcomed Victoria and Vivian into our department they felt very much part of our team from day one, supporting us on a wide range of campaigns, launches and issues handling.

“For us the internships are a great way to open doors for people to grow their experience and confidence, providing coaching and hands on experience in one of the most fascinating places to work in PR.

“Overcoming barriers to greater diversity and inclusion requires sustained proactive effort by employers, and that is why we have worked with the Taylor Bennett Foundation for several years now. We will retain a keen interest as all of the Summer Stars develop their future careers.”

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