Sir David Walker once said: "A chairman of a major bank has to be polymath – he has to have good leadership skills, he has to have good financial expertise. You don’t find these people growing on trees, so if you can’t get the ideal, which of the qualities is the most important? I tell you it is leadership."

The 72-year old industry veteran will now have chance to put these words, expressed in 2009, into practice, as he prepares to take the helm as chairman at UK bank Barclays on November 1.