Barclays announced on Wednesday plans to close its final salary pension scheme to nearly 18,000 existing members, a contentious move likely to ease the path for other big employers which have been wary of taking such a step.

In a letter to staff, John Varley, group chief executive, said he had “reluctantly” come to believe the move was necessary because the current scheme had become “untenable” after its £200m surplus ballooned into a £2.2bn deficit in the space of a year.