Assets Sold, Empire Dismantled
Mounting debt pressures forced the Barclays to relinquish Yodel in 2024, selling the parcel firm for just £1. They also sold The Spectator’s headquarters to a Bavarian rubber glove tycoon and parted with their luxury super-yacht, Lady Beatrice, named after their late mother.
The family has also lost control of Very Group, the online retailer behind the Littlewoods brand. In November, US private equity firm Carlyle took over the company — long viewed as the crown jewel of the Barclay empire — after propping it up with high-interest loans over the past year.
Very was created two decades ago through the merger of Littlewoods and Shop Direct, overseen by Aidan and Howard’s father Sir David Barclay and his twin brother Sir Frederick.
Financial Black Hole and Scrutiny Mounts
The dismantling of the family’s interests has raised fresh questions about management and oversight. In 2024, The Telegraph disclosed a £278 million gap in its finances, attributed to loans taken out by the Barclays and deemed unrecoverable.
That sum, recorded as a provision in 2023 accounts, pushed the paper to a record £245 million loss for the year. Efforts to trace the missing funds through a web of Barclay-controlled companies have so far failed.
Specialists from HM Revenue & Customs and the National Crime Agency — which coordinates financial intelligence with bodies including the Serious Fraud Office — have been in contact with the company and its advisers. It has not been confirmed whether formal investigations are under way.
