Director Shareholding

Barclays PLC
4 April 2001



                                                                4 April 2001

        Notification of directors' interests: Companies Act 1985 s.329

The independent trustee of the Barclays Group (ESAS) Employees' Benefit Trust,
(the 'trust') notified the company on 3 April 2001 that it had on 2 April 2001
exercised its discretion and released 4,371 ordinary shares in Barclays PLC to
a participant in the Executive Share Award Scheme ('ESAS').  The participant
to whom shares were released is not a director of Barclays PLC.

The ESAS trust is a discretionary trust for the benefit of employees and
former employees (and their families) of Barclays Bank PLC and its
subsidiaries.

Following this transaction, the trustees of all the Barclays Group employees'
benefit trusts hold a total of 11,773,683 ordinary shares in Barclays PLC in
which the following directors of Barclays PLC had an interest as potential
beneficiaries:  Sir Peter Middleton, Mr M W Barrett, Sir Andrew Large, Mr C J
Lendrum, Mr J M Stewart and Mr J S Varley.