Business Manager Incompetence

[tkessex]

I opened a business account with Barclays in October of last year, and in doing so provided my business relationship manager with a copy of my business plan. As I was applying for some form of finance at the time, included in the business plan were copies of my Experian and Equifax credit reports, personal bank statements for two bank accounts, a CV with all of my personal details and a full educational and professional history, registration certificates and login details for half a dozen domain names and hosting packages, and details pertaining to advanced sales and clients with whom business had already been done.

For one reason or another I urgently required the documentation contained within the business plan, and contacted my business manager to get it back. He left me a message saying that he would drop it off at my local Barclays branch for me to collect. A week later I went in to my local branch (Nuneaton) to be told that they hadn't received anything from my relationship manager and that I should get back in touch with him. I did so and was assured that, whilst he didn't have it in his office, he had spoken to the Nuneaton branch and 'pretty much' knew where it was (odd, considering they had already informed me to the contrary).

I went back to Nuneaton and was told, unsurprisingly, that the business plan and it's accompanying documentation was not there and that I should meet with my relationship manager the following day. The ordeal had been dragging on for almost 3 weeks by this point, but I reluctantly took the time to meet with Mr Hussain regardless. Upon my arrival I was told that the documentation was not in his office, nor any of the Nuneaton offices and it's whereabouts were completely unknown. He did reveal that he had given it to a colleague to overlook, but said that he had since retired and couldn't be contacted (I asked if he had tried ringing him at home, but he said that because he was retired he was difficult to get hold of - and that they only had a business number for him).

I wasn't at all happy given the sensitive nature of the folder's contents, so I made a complaint on 23/01/2008 to the Barclays Local Business team. I was assured that the area manager for Coventry would call me by the morning of the 24th. No call was forthcoming. I called again on the afternoon of 24/01/2008 and was again assured that someone would contact me, this time later the same day. No call. I left it for the weekend and made another complaint on 28/01/2008. This time the matter was passed through to the complaints team (not the area manager as promised) and I have since been told, in effect, 'we can't find it, so tough luck'.

The lies from my business relationship manager and area manager (who says she called and left me a message to get back to her, a story which can't be confirmed by the telephone company) aside, is there any legal action I can take in relation to the lost documentation? Obviously I would be able to reclaim any monies spent having to obtain new domain registration certificates etc. but surely there is a major Data Protection Act violation somewhere? And, as I will have to inform previous clients of the potentially damaging loss of their details, would it be worth considering future loss of earnings as it would surely do my reputation no good whatsoever?

When I met with my relationship manager he did actually inform me that Barclays had had trouble recently with reporters walking into branches and being able to remove extremely sensitive data from office bins, which were left next to the client seating area. Barclays management had supposedly clamped down on poor data protection, yet this sort of thing is still able to happen.

Any help in this matter would be much appreciated.