Nationalisation of Northern Rock in the event that the takeover bids fail. On 12 January 2008, the Treasury recruited Ron Sandler, the former Lloyd's of London Chief Executive, to lead Northern Rock, in the event that the bank was nationalised. If the Bank was to be temporarily nationalised, the government would manage the Bank at "arm's length" on a commercial basis, where services for savers and borrowers would not be affected and the company would continue to operate as normal. However nationalisation would also address the future of the Northern Rock Foundation. Alistair Darling rejected the possibility of the Bank being put into administration.
Northern Rock buildings at the company's headquarters in Gosforth and have contributed to many of the other design aspects of the company, such as the in-branch styling. From 1 October 1997 until the government nationalisation, the bank used the symbol NRK on the London Stock Exchange. One of Northern Rock's final advertising campaigns before the purchase by Virgin was titled 'Works for Me' and featured local customers. Following the purchase by Virgin, the Northern Rock brand was gradually phased out during 2012. Upon buying Northern Rock, Virgin Money changed their logo to use both Virgin's red and Northern Rock's magenta colours. Prior