When Gamil Magal realised a few months ago that his engineering business was running into problems, he went to his bank, the Royal Bank of Scotland, in the expectation that it would be keen to help.

Instead, says Mr Magal, he encountered a lack of urgency and an attitude that he describes as “heavy handed”. “When the bank did send someone to talk to me, the person seemed to be more interested in winding the company up than offering assistance,” the former Israeli tank commander told the Financial Times. “I was surprised.”