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.
Nationalisation of Northern Rock it was announced that Northern Rock would change its business strategy by offering more retention deals to its existing mortgage borrowers as their products expire, hence taking longer to pay back the remainder of its Government loan. Alistair Darling noted that it was "not appropriate for Northern Rock to continue to shrink its activities". "The Daily Mail" reported on 23 January, that the Government were considering injecting up to £10 billion into Northern Rock, as a new business plan at the bank. However, the European Commission may object to changes in how the bank is run, and that it may