The Shareholder Executive is scouring the City of London for executives to join its top team, ahead of the imminent release of a study into the effectiveness of the body by the National Audit Office.

The Executive manages the UK government's investments in state-owned companies including the Royal Mail and British Nuclear Fuels. It has 10 directors working under its chairman, former Credit Suisse European head of investment banking Richard Gillingwater, and Martin Bryant, who succeeded Gillingwater as chief executive in November.