Last week Goldman Sachs failed to complete a difficult deal to sell a pharmaceuticals company. But instead of talking billions, the bank was looking to get a price closer to £10m (€16.4m) for UK specialist Bioglan before the company's lenders finally foreclose.

The fact that the mighty Goldman is stooping to such a piddling deal shows how crowded a place the middle market has become recently. Ordinarily, the big boys would shun these smaller transactions, which cannot yield the level of fees needed to maintain their staffs. But now they have little choice.