Driving to a wedding in Leeds in September, Paul Daccus, a principal at turnaround firm Sun European Partners, received a call from the firm’s investment chief Michael Kalb. Kalb wanted to discuss a crucial breakthrough in the auction of Dutch department store V&D and organic store La Place.

Daccus said: "I was on the M25, turning onto the M11, and Michael called my mobile. My wife answered and she wouldn't give me the phone." Kalb recalls: "She said: 'Michael, no, he's driving'."