HEAD OF BARCLAYS' WEALTH BUSINESS HORRELL QUITS

(Reuters) - The head of Barclays' (BARC.L) wealth andinvestment management business, Peter Horrell, is leaving the bank later this year as part of an overhaul of the British bank's wealth operation.

Horrell was appointed chief executive of Barclays' wealth arm last September after running the business on a temporary basis following the departure of Tom Kalaris in April 2013.

Barclays said on Thursday Horrell had chosen to step down and would leave at the end of the year after 23 years at the bank.

Barclays has struggled for several years to build its wealth business to the size and profitability it wants and last September unveiled plans to simplify and narrow its focus in a move to cut costs and improve profitability.

That included stopping offering wealth management services in about 130 countries by 2016.

Barclays said last month it would fold the wealth and investment management unit into the bank's personal and corporate banking business, alongside UK and retail banking operations.

Ashok Vaswani, head of personal and corporate banking at Barclays, said Horrell had overseen the creation and implementation of a new strategy and positioned it for "long-term and sustainable growth."

He said a search for his replacement was underway and Horrell would continue to lead the wealth business until a successor is appointed.