Steven Crawshaw, Bradford & Bingley’s outgoing chief executive, had been under pressure for months. But when the bank’s trading figures for April were sent out to the board on May 23, the 47-year-old knew he was facing the most difficult challenge of his career.

Barely a week after launching a deeply discounted rights issue – and assuring investors that the bank was trading in line with the previous guidance given at the annual meeting last month – directors were suddenly discovering that the picture had worsened dramatically without anyone at the top realising.