Nationalisation of Northern Rock in financial services. The OFT concluded that "public support for Northern Rock did not, during that period, have a significantly adverse impact on competition." In February 2008, Ron Sandler was appointed Executive Chairman by the government. Bryan Sanderson, Sir Ian Gibson, David Jones and Paul Thompson resigned from the board at this time. Gary Hoffman became Chief Executive of Northern Rock in October 2008. He has previously been the vice chairman of Barclays and a former Managing Director of Barclaycard. With the appointment of Gary Hoffman, Ron Sandler changed to a Non-Executive Chairman position. On 4 November 2010 Hoffman left
Nationalisation of Northern Rock Virgin Money bank (savings and mortgages) in Newcastle upon Tyne. The deal is pending regulatory and EU merger approval, and the combined business will operate under the Virgin Money brand. The deal with Virgin included jobs for 2,100 employees, around a million of Northern Rock's customers, 75 branches and around a £14bn mortgage book and a £16bn retail deposit book. Although the deal means that the British government are to lose hundreds of millions on the deal, they claim that this represented the best deal for the taxpayer. The purchase was funded by the Virgin Group and WL Ross &