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HSBC has filed a bankruptcy petition against two senior members of the Barclay dynasty, as the bank seeks to recover huge debts owed on part of the family’s ailing business empire.
Court records show the bank launched High Court proceedings in London against Aidan and Howard Barclay in December relating to a loan made by Logistics Group, the failed parent company of the Barclay family brands Yodel and AeroXL.
The logistics group went into administration in March 2024 after HSBC demanded repayment of its £143.5mn secured loan and was unable to repay. The bank has received about £1.1 million of what it is owed, according to a Companies House filing in October.
The collapse of the Logistics Group – of which Aidan and Howard Barclay were both directors – adds to the family businesses which have fallen into financial difficulty in recent years, resulting in some being seized by creditors. HSBC’s petitions were first reported by The Times.
Aidan and Howard Barclay are the elder sons of the late Sir David Barclay, who, along with his twin brother Sir Frederick, used debt-based acquisitions to build the family’s vast empire, including Telegraph Media Group.
Lloyds Banking Group is expected to push Telegraph into administration in 2023 over unpaid debts of around £1.1 billion. This prompted the UK bank to sell the right-leaning broadsheet, which had been owned by the family since 2004. Lord Rothermere’s DMGT secured funding for a £500mn acquisition of the paper in late 2025.
The takeover by DMGT was agreed barely a week after US private equity group Redbird Capital, led by former Goldman Sachs banker Gerry Cardinal, abruptly halted its attempt to buy the 170-year-old newspaper.
Last month, Abu Dhabi state-owned media investor IMI appointed insolvency experts to sell the assets of Barclays Trainport Property Holdings. IMI also backed an earlier attempt by Redbird to buy Telegraph through an associated fund, Redbird IMI, only to have that attempt blocked by the UK government.
The family also lost control of retailer The Very Group after US investment group Carlyle seized its assets last year. The change of control came after Carlyle and IMI agreed a new debt funding package for Very Group in 2024.
Logistics administrator Teneo sold AeroXL shares in June to French logistics and transportation business Jacques Perrenot Group for an initial £2.2 million. Yodel was sold in February 2024.
“A dividend of £1.12m was distributed to the secured creditor on 5 August 2025 (representing 0.78p in the £ to date),” Teneo said in its October filing.
“Future recovery for the secured lender is uncertain and dependent on the performance of the earn-outs agreed as part of the sale of the subsidiary ventures.”
Spokespeople for HSBC and Eden and Howard Barclay declined to comment.
