Virgin gets McNamara for Northern Rock bid

Peter McNamara, former managing director of Alliance & Leicester, has been lined up by a consortium led by Virgin Group to front its bid for ailing UK bank Northern Rock.

According to the Financial Times, McNamara will be the executive responsible for risk management. A new finance director has also been lined up.

The report added that the consortium may revise its bid to enable existing investors to put equity into any deal. Sir Richard Branson, Virgin’s founder, said that the government’s advisor in the sale, Goldman Sachs, will produce a financing package for potential bidders in the next “two to three days”.