Barclays Wealth has made a number of top-level changes to the management of its UK and Ireland private banking business, this publication can exclusively report.

The firm has appointed David Semaya as the new head of its UK and & Ireland Private Bank, replacing Mark Kibblewhite, who is retiring from the UK firm next year, although he will remain as part of Barclays Wealth’s advisory board.

Meanwhile, Sir Nigel Rudd has been named chairman of the UK & Ireland Private Bank. Sir Nigel succeeds Lord Fellowes, who is to step down at the end of the year after 10 years in the position, WealthBriefing can reveal.

Sir Nigel was, until April of this year, deputy chairman of Barclays Bank, having taken up the role in 1996. He also chairs companies including automotive retail company Pendragon, airports operator BAA and the technology company Invensys. He has also been chairman of pharmacy, health and beauty group Alliance Boots.

The appointments come at a time when Barclays Wealth and other private banking firms such as Coutts, UBS and Credit Suisse are battling to exploit a rebound in the assets of high net worth individuals following the turmoil of the previous year.

In the change to the leadership of the private bank, Barclays Wealth said Mr Semaya joins from Barclays Global Investors, the asset management arm that Barclays, the parent bank of Barclays Wealth, agreed to sell to US firm BlackRock earlier this year. Mr Semaya has been chief executive for BGI Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Asia (excluding Japan) since 2006. He also held the role of co-head of BGI’s client solutions business.

Prior to BGI, he spent 12 years in senior positions at Merrill Lynch, which included heading the asset management business at Merrill Lynch Investment Management Japan and a number of positions in the capital markets division in New York and Tokyo.

Mr Kibblewhite is a highly regarded figure in the wealth management industry. He has been a long-standing employee of Barclays, holding a variety of senior positions since he joined the London-listed bank in 1986. He joined Barclays Wealth from Barclays Capital, the investment banking arm of Barclays, in 2005.

His retirement had been planned for a while and he leaves the firm to spend more time with his young family and to concentrate on business interests already established outside of financial services, this publication understands.

It is understood that Mr Semaya will join Barclays Wealth in December and work alongside Mr Kibblewhite to ensure a smooth handover before the latter departs his post at the end of March next year.

The latest news comes at a time when Barclays Wealth has been busily recruiting. Its investment in graduate trainees has risen from 65 people in 2009 to 120 people in 2010.

Earlier in the autumn, the firm appointed Andrew Tinney as its new chief operating officer. It has also recently appointed Oliver Gregson as its new head of UK investment advisors.