About Hannah Bernard

Hannah Bernard became Head of Business Banking for Barclays UK at the very start of the Coronavirus crisis (April 2020), playing a critical role as a leader in financial services to provide urgent support to businesses throughout the pandemic. She manages a team of almost 3,000 at Barclays, who support one million small and medium enterprises (SMEs) across every region of the UK, a fifth of the country’s small businesses. She began her Barclays’ career in 2015 as the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) for Retail Products and Segments before running the Mortgages business for three years. She has previously held a range of leadership roles at Sainsbury’s and Sainsbury’s Bank, spanning Finance, Buying, Marketing, Banking Products and Customer Experience. She spent seven years on the Board of Sainsbury’s Bank as Bank CFO and interim CEO. Hannah Bernard is a qualified Management Accountant and a Chartered Banker. She cares passionately about the need for inclusive and diverse leadership and is co-Executive Sponsor of the Barclays Spectrum Executive, the Barclays LGBT+ network. She believes it is a leaders’ job to create and foster an inclusive environment for all colleagues, considering not only LGBT but also gender, race, age and disability. She's proud to be a founding signatory of the UK government’s Investing in Women code and is honored to co-chair the Invest in Women Taskforce, alongside Debbie Wosskow OBE, which aims to make the UK the best place in the world to be a female entrepreneur. She understands that women face many challenges when starting and scaling businesses – from lack of networks and resources, to navigating the complex financing landscape. That’s why she aims to provide you with the best support possible and be your genuine partner for growth.