大象传媒

Sue MacGregor's guests recall the 2007 collapse of Northern Rock, the Newcastle-based bank whose rapid growth came to symbolise the region's renaissance.

On the evening of Thursday 13th September 2007, senior directors at the Bank of England were secretly negotiating the final details of an emergency loan to Northern Rock, when news of the deal broke on the 大象传媒. The next morning, long queues formed outside branches as worried customers rushed to remove their savings. It was the first run on a British Bank in 140 years.

Five months later, the Bank was nationalised and eventually broken up, with the most profitable section sold to Virgin Money in 2012.

Northern Rock had grown rapidly over the prevoius 10 years, briefly becoming the UK's largest mortgage provider. With headquarters in Newcastle, it was one of the region's biggest employers and one of only two FTSE 100 companies in the area. It donated 5% of its pre-tax profits to local charities and was a major sports sponsor.

Sue MacGregor reunites some of those caught up in the Northern Rock crisis. Robert Peston was the 大象传媒's Business Editor who broke the story of the Rock's troubles and was accused of causing the run on the Bank. Dennis Grainger is a former Northern Rock employee who had built up shares worth more than 拢100,000 through the company's save-as-you-earn scheme. He has fought a long legal battle for compensation after nationalisation rendered the shares worthless. Alastair Balls was Chair of the Northern Rock Foundation, which distributed more than 拢230million in grants. And Jayne-Anne Gadhia is the Chief Executive of Virgin Money which bought Northern Rock from the UK Government in 2012.

Presenter: Sue MacGregor
Producer: Deborah Dudgeon
Series Producer: David Prest

A Whistledown production for 大象传媒 Radio 4.