Former Northern Rock chief returns to work

Northern Rock

On the same day Ken Lewis, chief executive of Bank of America, announces his retirement, Adam Applegarth former chief of failed UK-bank Northern Rock, reveals he has landed his first job since the collapse.

In Lewis' case, he departs from Bank of America (BoA) amidst continued criticisms over his running of the firm, particularly last year's decision to buy ailing-rival Merrill Lynch.

For Applegarth, the news of a new role is particularly more cheery in tone.

According to reports in today's edition of UK newspaper The Times, the executive, who was responsible for driving the strategy that led to Northern Rock's collapse in the autumn of 2007, will now act as a senior adviser to Apollo's European fund.

By joining Apollo as an adviser, rather than a full-time director, however, Applegarth will not need approval by the Financial Services Authority; something he would be unlikely to get if it were a necessity, reports continue.

For Apollo, the New-York based private equity firm, the move to take-on Applegarth is steeped in irony: given that the firm invests in distressed debt.

Applegarth, who has kept a low profile since the downfall of Northern Rock two autumns ago, has said that 9 August of that year was "the day the world changed," when Northern Rock was the first British casualty of the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression.

Though Northern Rock's demise has since been eclipsed by the bail-out of Royal Bank of Scotland and Lloyds TSB's rescue of HBOS - not to mention the catastrophic collapse of Lehman Brothers on the other side of the Atlantic - Applegarth's appointment at Apollo marks him as the latest failed banker seeking to return to work.

Ken Lewis, on the other hand, who analysts have for some time said would not be able to continue in the role of chief executive for much longer, faces a considerably different future as a retiree.

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