In the meantime, he can enjoy the benefits of the decisions that Jonathan Bloomer took on the basis of the opportunities he saw. On the numbers that Pru produced yesterday, he made some very clever moves, both in Asia and the UK. Underlying sales growth of 10 per cent at home is particularly impressive, given that the market is estimated to be growing at no more than 3 per cent.

However, Mr Bloomer slipped up by sharing his thoughts with investors too often and too loudly and then sometimes changing his view and acting upon it. Pru’s UK performance would not be looking anything like as healthy as it does had he not admitted that his pessimism about prospects had changed and that he would like some more cash from investors to capitalise on that. He got the boot and now investors, and Mr Tucker, are getting the benefit. Mr Bloomer also announced that he was selling Egg and then failed to find anyone prepared to pay what he thought a reasonable price. Mr Tucker is not repeating the error. Until he has signed the contract to be rid of it, he will simply be “reviewing” Pru’s majority stake and at least it is now in the black.

Mr Bloomer’s experience has not put him off the financial services market, only public companies. So we can expect him to return from an extended summer holiday to join the ranks of former quoted company bosses now looking to have fun with private equity backing. The former chief executive of Abbey, Luqman Arnold, is thought to have similar ambitions. Perhaps the two could team up and fashion a new challenger in the personal finance market.

But there could be pitfalls ahead for some lenders. The grim news about house repossessions shows that the heavy debts that many people have been amassing in recent years are leading to the inevitable misery. The highest rate of increase in repossessions in more than a decade translates into misery for thousands of families.

Those who were so cavalier about the multiples on which they were prepared to lend must carry some of the blame. In some cases a mortgage of 110 per cent of value could be obtained, putting the borrower instantly into negative equity.

When he was trying to turn Abbey around after the destruction done to it under Ian Harley’s reign, Mr Arnold declared his wish to create a bank that would look after the interests of customers, rather than lead them astray. But it takes time to change a culture and the new regime is not flattering about the level of knowledge of those working in the bank. Neither do Abbey’s soaring bad debts and doubtful debts testify to a cautious institution.

But the lenders are bound to be hit when borrowers find themselves losing their jobs, and that is happening in Britain. The number of households in the UK with no adult in work has risen by 61,000 in the past year, according to new figures from the Office for National Statistics. There are now 3.1 million households in that situation.

That number looks set to grow as the consumer downturn takes its toll. Yesterday’s corporate collapse was the computer business Tiny. As Mr Tucker might go so far as to say, this is a time for being prudent.

METRONET, which is now responsible for the maintenance and renewal of two thirds of the London Underground network, is adopting the entertainment industry’s approach to reviewing Transport for London’s second annual report into the Public Private Partnership that HM Treasury insisted was the only way forward for LU.

“Metronet Rail . . . is pleased to have contributed to the improvement in the service delivered to Tube passengers recognised in the report published to day by London Underground,” runs its press release.

It is a response similar to those of the theatre impresario who slaps across his posters the critic’s verdict “A huge success”, when what had actually been written was that “This could have been a huge success had the cast been different, the script funnier and the set better.”

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