Barclays Capital bucks trend by hiring more staff

In an interview with Financial News, Bob Diamond, chief executive, said the increase in staff in 2002 'could be similar to last year'. But he stressed that it would depend 'on market conditions and availability of people at the right time'.

Despite the slowdown in debt issuance in the first quarter of this year, Diamond was confident that business would continue growing in Europe in the coming years.

'You'll see slow quarters. But over a four or five year time-frame, the market is going to grow at about 15% per annum,' he said.