Marcus Agius, the group chairman of Barclays plc, has been appointed chairman of the board of trustees of the Royal Botanic Gardens Kew.

Agius, who is also a senior independent director on the executive board of the BBC, takes on the role having served on both the Royal Botanic Gardens Kew board and as chairman of the Kew Foundation and Friends board.

Agius said: “It is a great privilege to start the UN’s International Year of Biodiversity as chair of the Royal Botanic Gardens. In the years I have been involved with Kew, it has been inspiring to see the organisation focus on playing an increasing role in addressing the big environmental challenges we are facing, such as biodiversity loss and climate change.”