Sheila Nicoll stares at the TV screen in shock: queues are forming outside Northern Rock and the Square Mile is entering a state of panic. It’s September 2007 and Nicoll is more than 1,000 miles away on holiday in Córdoba, Spain, watching the drama unfold on CNN.
She is due to start at the Financial Services Authority in a matter of days. Part of her job will be to sort the whole mess out. “I thought: ‘Oh dear, what am I letting myself in for?’” she says.