Hopefully for RBS investors, Stephen Hester, one of three new non-executives directors at the bank, has lost none of his touch when it comes to pulling a lender out of the mire.

The 47-year old has spent the vast majority of his career either in investment or retail banking, with the exception being his current full-time job as chief executive at British Land, the commercial property company, which he joined in 2004.

Over 26 years ago, however, Mr Hester was leaving Oxford University with a first class honours degree in politics, philosophy and economics to join Credit Suisse First Boston (CSFB).

Though he steadily climbed the career ladder, it was not until 1996 that Mr Hester began to garner attention when, as the 35-year old co-head of European investment banking, he was promoted to become chief financial officer at CSFB.

In 2000, Mr Hester became global head of fixed income but the role was short-lived after John Mack became CSFB's new chief executive.

Living up to his "Mack the knife" moniker, the new chief restructured the bank's equity and fixed income divisions, and Mr Hester opted to leave at the end of 2001 for his first role at a FTSE 100 company.

The then struggling Abbey National had been searching for a financial director for six months, and the market was surprised that the bank had chosen a relatively young investment banker to help lead it to recovery.

However, following a profits warning and the arrival of new chief executive, Luqman Arnold, Mr Hester was instrumental in helping turning the bank around by restructuring the bank's toxic debt - a move that would prepare the pair for their different dealings with Northern Rock six years later.

Mr Luqman and Mr Hester's success at Abbey led to the bank being sold to Spain's Santander for £9.5 billion in 2004. That year, Mr Hester sidestepped into a new role and a new sector, when he was appointed chief executive at British Land.

Mr Hester was not the first choice to become chief executive of British Land, that accolade went to Philip Yea, who the property group hoped would takeover the running of the company from Sir John Ritblat who would remain as chairman.

Instead, Mr Yea chose to become chief executive at 3i, the listed UK private equity group, and Mr Hester moved to British Land.

Until last year, Mr Hester ran British Land almost without a hitch, selling off £5.8 billion of older property, reducing its gearing and giving it the capital for additions to its property portfolio.

Then the downturn hit. But not before Mr Hester said commercial real estate "was set for a correction but not a massive drama".

He added: "My view is that this well be a 1998 and if you look at the employment growth in 1999 and 2000, it is as if nothing had happened."

Less than two weeks later, British Land was forced to pull the sale of its £1.7 billion shopping centre in Sheffield, due to "uncertainty in financial markets", and a month after that, the company posted its first fall in property valuations since the recession in the early 1990s.

Most recently, British Land delayed construction of the new "Cheesegrater" skyscraper due to a lack of demand for space in the City of London.

Still, Mr Hester hasn't completely left banking behind, and this year became deputy chairman at Northern Rock, then newly nationalised after narrowly avoiding collapse with £26 billion of taxpayers' money.

Ironically, Mr Hester was appointed after his former boss at Abbey, Mr Arnold, put together a rescue attempt to rescue Northern Rock, but to no avail.

Now Mr Hester has relinquished his role at Northern Rock, he will carry on running British Land where last year he earned a total £1.7 million and, from October, his non-executive role at RBS.

Unless, the lure of a full-time role at RBS proves too tempting, and the Scottish bank has a bigger, interesting and challenging role to offer Mr Hester.

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