It is with great sadness that we report the imminent demise of Kleinworts, one of the grander names in the City of London, after a long and debilitating illness. It is 223 years since the bank’s ancestors Hinrich Kleinwort and Robert Benson set up their trading ventures that were ultimately to merge in 1960 to create Kleinwort Benson.

But you do not have to go so far back to a time when Kleinwort was one of the dominant players in the City. In 1900 it had the biggest balance sheet of any merchant bank. In 1969 it moved into the City's tallest building. In the 1980s, it dominated the UK privatisation programme. And then, after its acquisition by Dresdner Bank in 1995, it all went wrong. A permanent clash of cultures and almost wilful lack of mutual understanding triggered a gradual decline, marked by strategic drift, ill-conceived ambition and a lack of purpose.