Professor Philip Lane:

From the word go, from the time I joined the bank, the whole ambition here and the only way the bank can be sustainable is for it basically to be a machine. Whether it is me, Ms Donnery or the people beside me, we have to operate on the basis that everyone is replaceable. What we need is a pipeline of people who can step forward. A lot of the effort we go to in the bank is to cultivate and build the next wave. Regardless of any individual, it is the case that there is a remarkable set of talented people in the bank. The committee gets to see the most visible layer at its meetings, but in terms of the talent in the bank, we are operating as a team and as a machine, so the individuals should not be so important.