Barclays Bank
I was at Uni in London when South Africa still had apartheid. The president of our student union - I'll call him Ricky Kenwood, it's close enough - was a fiery left winger who could rage against the injustices of the world as only students can do. At one union meeting Ricky gave a particularly eloquent speech urging us not to bank at Barclays, as this bank invested heavily in South Africa. The union bar would no longer accept Barclays cheques, anyone who used the Barclays ATM near the university building was liable to get a tirade of abuse, that sort of thing. I suppose this was a small way of making a principled stand against an unjust and oppressive regime, but was never convinced that a few students closing accounts worth £100 or so would make much difference and had read that all the banks had dealings with South Africa, so never closed my Barclays account down.

A couple of months after all this a couple of mates and I were staggering out of a pub at 11pm near the university and decided we wanted a kebab. We needed some cash so went to the Barclays ATM near the Uni. Who should we see furtively walking away after making a withdrawal but our illustrious union president, Ricky Kenwood! To this day I regret that we were too pissed to bother saying anything to him.

Perhaps I should add for the benefit of younger readers that in those days you could only use your bank's own ATM, unlike now.
(eesnahk, Mon 26 Nov 2007, 12:17, 2 replies)

I remember that
The Barclays ATM in Canterbury was covered with red paint - blood of apartheid.
( chickenlady b3ta's very own Elizabeth Taylor, Mon 26 Nov 2007, 13:13, closed)

conspiracy theory
perhaps he instigated the boycott so that he'd never have to queue for the successfully boycotted and empty barclay's cashpoint?
(Joey[kins], Mon 26 Nov 2007, 17:52, closed)