Editing David and Frederick Barclay (section)

===Retail===


====The Very Group and Littlewoods====
In 2002, the brothers purchased the [[Liverpool]]-based retail company [[Littlewoods]] from its founders, the [[John Moores (British businessman)|Moores family]], for £750&nbsp;million. The deal was bankrolled by [[HBOS]], which also took a 5% equity stake in the brothers' bidding vehicle, LW Investments. The brothers merged the company with their earlier purchase, [[The Very Group]], to form [[Littlewoods Shop Direct Group|Littlewoods Shop Direct Home Shopping Limited]], which operates a majority share of the United Kingdom's home shopping market. They also closed and sold off the Littlewoods department store chain, with the largest parcel of 120 properties being purchased by [[Associated British Foods]] for leasing mainly to its subsidiary [[Primark]],<ref>[http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/business/s/165/165350_primark_takes_over_120_littlewoods_stores.html "Primark takes over Littlewood stores"], ''Manchester Evening News''</ref> while other stores were leased to [[Marks & Spencer]], [[New Look (clothing retailer)|New Look]] and [[British Home Stores]].<ref>[http://dialspace.dial.pipex.com/town/green/ac777/bes/bes_spring1999/28_2/sec2.htm "Structure of Industry" by Robert Paisley] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081215072646/http://dialspace.dial.pipex.com/town/green/ac777/bes/bes_spring1999/28_2/sec2.htm |date=15 December 2008 }}, dialspace.dial.pipex.com</ref>

Two years after the brothers' acquisition of Littlewoods Ltd., [[HM Revenue and Customs]] repaid the company VAT that it had charged in breach of EU law. Since October 2004, more than £200&nbsp;million in overpaid VAT and £268&nbsp;million in simple interest was repaid to the company.<ref>[http://www.internationaltaxreview.com/Article/3063534/ECJ-refers-Littlewoods-VAT-case-back-to-the-UK.html ''International Tax Review''], 19 July 2012</ref> However, Littlewoods argued that the company was owed a compounded interest rate and subsequently sued HMRC for £1&nbsp;billion.<ref>[http://www.accountancyage.com/aa/news/2192417/littlewoods-court-case-could-cost-taxman-billions "Littlewoods court case could cost taxman billions"], ''AccountancyAge'', 18 July 2012.</ref>

In 2024, Very Group auditors, [[Deloitte]], resigned after stating they struggled to access "appropriate and relevant information in respect of certain financing arrangements between companies in the wider group". Very Group's ownership is spread across many different companies, some unaudited, with an ultimate offshore owner.<ref name=telegraph-20240320>{{cite news |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2024/03/20/deloitte-quits-very-group-auditor-fresh-blow-barclay-family/ |title=Deloitte quits as Very Group auditor in fresh blow to Barclay family |last=Barr |first=Luke |newspaper=The Daily Telegraph |url-access=subscription |date=20 March 2024 |access-date=20 March 2024}}</ref>

====Yodel====
Delivery company [[Yodel (company)|Yodel]] has received criticism for its poor service in the past, but has improved over recent years.<ref>{{cite news |author=Bachelor, Lisa |url=https://www.theguardian.com/money/2012/aug/24/amazon-complaints-yodel-delivery-service |title=Amazon deluged with complaints over Yodel's poor delivery service |work=The Guardian |location=London |date=24 August 2012 |access-date=15 January 2014}}</ref><ref>[https://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/watchdog/2012/03/yodel.html bbc.co.uk], 22 March 2012</ref> Yodel (which operates via Home Delivery Network Ltd.) suffered a £130&nbsp;million loss in 2011.<ref>[http://bizzy.co.uk/uk/05200072/home-delivery-network bizzy], Home Delivery Network Limited profile</ref>

====handbag.com====
In October 2006, the Barclays sold handbag.com for £22&nbsp;million. This was almost all profit: they acquired the website after it was set up as a joint venture between [[Hollinger International]] and the [[Boots Group]] in 1999.  The Handbag group was a collection of four websites designed for female users: the high fashion getlippy.com, the fashion and home life-focused allaboutyou.com, a "specialist pregnancy site" gomamatoday.com and handbag.com.<ref>[http://www.journalism.co.uk/news/story3029.shtml Journalism.co.uk "NatMags buys Handbag.com"], journalism.co.uk</ref>

====Woolworths and Ladybird brands====
{{Main|Woolworths (United Kingdom)}}

On 2 February 2009, it was announced that the brothers' [[Shop Direct Group]] had purchased the brand names of [[Woolworths (UK)|Woolworths]] and [[Ladybird (clothing)|Ladybird]] children's clothing for an undisclosed amount, from [[Deloitte]], the administrators of the failed [[Woolworths (United Kingdom)|Woolworths Group]].<ref name="salebrand">{{cite web|url=http://www.deloitte.com/dtt/press_release/0,1014,sid%253D2988%2526cid%253D245646,00.html|title=Administrators announce sale of Woolworths brand|publisher=Deloitte|date=2 February 2009|access-date=5 February 2009}}{{Dead link|date=September 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> In July 2021, the British and Irish Woolworths brands would be sold to [[Woolworth (European retailer)|Woolworth]] in Germany, with The Very Group retaining the Ladybird brand.<ref>{{Cite news |date=2024-01-23 |title=Woolworths could return to British High Streets |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/business-68068503 |access-date=2024-03-24 |work=BBC News |language=en-GB}}</ref>