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 buyers. Alistair Darling has stated that he is in no hurry to return the bank back to the private sector. In January 2010 National Australia Bank were widely reported to have lined up potential advisers on the deal to buy the Northern Rock. NAB already own two brands in the UK, Clydesdale and Yorkshire banks. Also in January 2010 Virgin purchased a small bank, the Church House Trust, but according to "the Times" and other sources Virgin still had an interest in Northern Rock and had been contacting companies such as Blackstone. In July 2010 it was reported that a