LONDON (Reuters) - Barclays BARC.L reshuffled its senior global investment bank management on Thursday and is seeking to hire between 50 to 100 people to boost the division under new chief Tim Throsby, according to sources with direct knowledge of the plans.

FILE PHOTO: A Barclays sign is seen outside a branch of the bank in London, Britain, February 23, 2017. REUTERS/Stefan Wermuth

Throsby will become interim head of the bank’s markets division while Joe Corcoran, who previously held the role, will move to the newly created position of vice chairman of markets, the sources said as the bank looks to take on Wall Street rivals.

Joe McGrath will be the new global head of banking at Barclays and John Miller will become the head of global industry coverage banking, reporting to McGrath.

A spokesman for Barclays confirmed the changes.

CEO Jes Staley has stressed that investment banking is a key pillar of the bank's growth strategy and in September appointed former JPMorgan JPM.N colleague Throsby to head the international division that houses Barclays' investment bank.

The British bank worried investors in April when first quarter results showed a weak performance at its markets business, missing out on a bond trading boom enjoyed by Wall Street rivals in the first three months of 2017.

Staley attributed the poor showing to weakness in the bank’s U.S. rates business and a tough comparison with the previous year, saying it would be wrong to start questioning the business based on one quarter’s performance.

Since taking up his role in January, 50-year-old Australian Throsby has stressed that the investment bank is trying to shift the business from survival mode to flourish mode, according to a person familiar with the matter.

As part of Throsby’s bid to beef up the investment bank he is looking to hire between 50 and 100 people globally and will focus on key areas such as rates trading, foreign exchange and also equities, according to the same source who spoke on condition of anonymity.

In Barclays’ trading division, income from its markets business fell 4 percent to 1.35 billion pounds ($1.75 billion) in the first three months of the year, as macro income fell 14 percent due to a weaker performance by its U.S. rates business in particular.

Barclays fared better in advisory and underwriting, reporting its best ever performance in debt capital markets in terms of market share.

Banking fees jumped 51 percent to 726 million pounds, its best performance in three years, outperforming an average 33 percent rise across the U.S. banks.

The bank, which hopes to turn a chapter on its restructuring plans in June with the closure of its non-core business, is hoping to compete with Wall Street rivals and in order to do so is looking for senior level hires, particularly in sales and trading on a case-by-case basis.

One such position immediately up for grabs is head of Europe and Middle East banking, for which McGrath will recruit both internally and externally, one of the sources said.

Jean-Francois Astier will head the bank’s global capital markets business. Sam Dean, head of corporate finance for Europe, will retire from the firm as part of the changes, according to the sources.