Stephen Hester, chief executive of British Land, emerged as a candidate to succeed Sir Fred Goodwin at the helm of Royal Bank of Scotland on Wednesday.

Mr Hester, 47, was one of three non-executive directors appointed by the UK’s second-largest bank, which has been under fire from investors after heavy losses arising from the credit crunch; a troubled recent £12bn rights issue; and its share in the €71bn acquisition of Dutch bank ABN Amro.