Change at the top for Rock's board

Feb 23 2008 by Adrian Pearson, The Journal

NORTHERN Rock’s new management board members settled into their first day as a nationalised bank yesterday.

Executive chairman Ron Sandler last night confirmed the bank had said goodbye to Bryan Sanderson, the man brought in to oversee the company following the start of the cash crisis.

And after meeting with his new board and discussing the immediate changes needed, Mr Sandler announced he was keeping Andy Kuipers on as chief executive.

Mr Kuipers was brought in to replace previous bank chief Adam Applegarth who has been the subject of fierce criticism concerning the effects of his aggressive business model.

As well as Mr Sanderson’s departure, yesterday also saw the retirement of three board members.

In a statement released last night, Northern Rock conformed the departures of Sir Ian Gibson, David Jones and Paul Thompson.

Mr Thompson had led the in-house management bid for the bank, which could have seen half the workforce made redundant.

Mr Jones has agreed to continue as part of the management team and Simon Laffin, John Devaney and Laurie Adams will continue as non-executive directors.

Three new non-executive directors, Philip Remnant, Tom Scholar and Stephen Hester, have now been appointed.

Opposition MPs have warned that Mr Scholar, a former Government chief of staff, is too well connected to the prime minister to allow the arms-length management proposed by the Treasury.

Mr Sandler last night said the latest changes would bring much-needed stability to the bank.

He said: “I know these past months have been a turbulent time for everyone at Northern Rock, both for the staff and its loyal customer base.

“It is therefore of great importance to me and the new board that as we go forward, we create the stability to build a company operating on sound commercial principles that can be returned to the private sector, standing on its own two feet.

“This is a combined team of great experience, drawn from both within Northern Rock and outside organisations.

“As well as ensuring all important continuity, this is a team that will bring new ideas and new ways of working to Northern Rock to the benefit of everyone.”

Mr Sandler is joined by Ann Godbehere who became the new chief finance officer.

The bank also confirmed that following the official nationalisation of Northern Rock, an independent valuer would now be brought in to decide what compensation, if any, shareholders can expect.

The latest Rock announcement comes as a YouGov poll for The Economist found that only 5% of voters blamed the Government for the bank’s woes.

Almost half of voters also said the Tories would not have dealt with the crisis any better or worse, with a clear majority putting the party’s opposition to nationalisation down to playing politics, rather than a genuine belief that it was the wrong policy.