Rod Kent, the Bradford & Bingley chairman now with executive responsibilities, spent Tuesday locked in meetings at the bank’s London offices in Lambs Conduit Street sorting out the turmoil at the UK’s biggest buy-to-let lender.

Mr Kent, acting chief executive since Steven Crawshaw resigned at the weekend on health grounds, has made it clear that his three immediate priorities are to see through the rights issue, improve the flow of financial information to the City and find a new chief executive, with headhunters about to be appointed.