Nationalisation of Northern Rock In October 2008 the chairman Ron Sandler noted that there had been informal talks concerning the idea of the merger with the government, but there had been no subsequent discussion. Sandler did however add "It would not surprise me at some point if a closer look was taken at the method of managing loan books within government-owned banks". In March 2009 Alistair Darling said that he was keeping his options open during the "fast-moving" crisis in the banking industry, and thus not ruling out the possibility of a mortgage book merger between Northern Rock and Bradford & Bingley. On 24
Nationalisation of Northern Rock Co., and Virgin hope that the new enlarged Virgin Money with its 4 million customers will be "a significant new competitor in UK retail banking". WL Ross has a 44% stake in the enlarged Virgin Money – this is larger than his stake in Virgin Money after their purchase of Church House Trust in 2010. The deals with the Northern Rock Foundation will be extended to at least 2013, giving Virgin and the Foundation time to agree how they will work together. The new Virgin Money also aims lend £45bn in total to support its customers over the next five