Ronald Harford began his career as a post boy at Barclays Bank, which became Republic Bank in 1976. At various intervals in his career, he was assigned to several Caribbean countries — Barbados, Grenada and Dominica — in which Barclays Bank had a presence. In Trinidad and Tobago, Harford made his way up the ranks. In 1997, he was appointed Managing Director of Republic Bank Limited and led the transformation of the Bank from a primarily domestic institution to a global financial institution. In 2003, he was appointed Chairman and so held the dual roles of Chairman and Managing Director. In 2005, he retired from his role as Managing Director but he remained Chairman of the Group. He retired from the Bank in 2019, after 56 years of service. Nil Illegitimi Carborundum, published in 2022, is his memoir of his long career in banking.