On having money to lend:

We have surplus cash and we have surplus liquidity. That is not a limiting factor, it is the number of deals that are available that can justify a level of finance of over £100 million.

Opportunities of the euro zone:

We will be expanding more in deals in the euro zone. We have two teams within our corporate banking unit based in London, focused entirely on deals both in the UK and the euro zone.

The availability of fixed-rate loans at 4 per cent:

It always surprises me how few companies will take the bird-in-the-hand opportunity of five-year fixed-rate money without any risk of increased cost, and forego the marginal opportunity of further interest rate reductions.

Describing his MBA thesis on "the usefulness of financial ratios to corporate lending policies in assessing business loan applications": It was not a show-stopping number in the university pub.

The response to a more competitive market:

We needed to be more proactive - calling the customer with ideas, even when he is not calling us.

The secret:

I think success in business is 90 per cent about energy, common sense and a bit of personality, rather than being a rocket scientist.