Scandal-hit banking giant picked as least trusted brand in Britain

More bad news for Barclays: Scandal-hit banking giant picked as least trusted brand in Britain

By David Baker
PUBLISHED:00:02, 22 November 2012| UPDATED:07:58, 22 November 2012

Top of the flops: Banking giants Barclays topped a poll of least trusted brands in Britain in a survey carried out by consumer watchdogs Which?

Scandal-hit banking giant Barclays is the least trusted brand in Britain, according to a countrywide survey.
The latest research by consumer watchdog Which? shows that the banking giant was the number-one choice in a poll of more than 2,000 people in Great Britain.
Those surveyed were asked to spontaneously identify the three brands that they distrusted, with the troubled bank claiming the unwanted prize.
It has been a difficult year for banks in general but Barclays have been in particular turmoil largely due to the eruption of the Libor scandal back in June.
For its attempted manipulation of interbank rates between 2005 and 2009 they were hit with a whopping £290 million fine - leading to a decline in popularity among the public.
The Barclays affair led to the resignations of three leading Barclays executives -- chief executive Bob Diamond, chairman Marcus Agius and chief operating officer Jerry del Missier.
But it is not just banks that have seemingly lost the trust of the public with a number of other brands handpicked as untrustworthy.

Untrustworthy: Tesco and McDonald's fared badly in the poll too coming second and third least trustworthy respectively

There was also bad news for the UK’s biggest supermarket chain Tesco and fast food restaurant McDonald's who came in second and third, respectively.
   With long-running battles over energy prices it was no surprise to see British Gas lay claim to fourth spot, while Sky completed the top five.

 

Speaking about the poll, Which? said: 'Perhaps unsurprisingly, given recent scandals such as PPI mis-selling and the rigging of the Libor rate, the survey showed consumers are most likely to distrust financial brands.'

But it was not all gloom and doom for Britain's biggest brands.

It was better news for Marks & Spencer however who were regarded as the most trustworthy

In contrast, the survey showed that Marks & Spencer is considered at the other end of the scale as Britain’s most trusted brand.
People who chose the retail giant as one of their top three brands said that issues including customer service, fair trade and the treatment of employees influenced their opinion.

LEAST TRUSTED BRANDS
Barclays 13%
Tesco 12%
McDonald's 9%

British Gas 8%

Sky 6%

MOST TRUSTED BRANDS
Marks & Spencer 14%
Apple 11%
Heinz 10%
Sony 9%

Virgin 7%

Electronics giant Apple also fared better in the poll, coming in at second, while there was also a spot in the top three for food manufacturers Heinz.
In fourth place was entertainment moguls Sony, with Virgin in fifth.
The online survey was taken by a total of 2,038 members of the public in August this year.


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