Ron Sandler, the new chairman of Northern Rock, is a troubleshooter with a record of taking on difficult jobs. A former chief executive at Lloyd’s of London, he gained credit for bringing the insurance market back from the brink of collapse in the 1990s. He will now have to pull off a similar feat at Northern Rock.

It will not be the first time that the Government has put its trust in Mr Sandler, 55. He has links with Gordon Brown and the Treasury that date back to a high profile and wide-ranging review of the savings industry undertaken when Mr Brown was Chancellor.

He criticised the financial services industry for complicated products that had high charges and relatively poor returns. His findings put him at odds with some within the life and pensions field, but gained him respect elsewhere as a man prepared to stand up to the industry. His damning report in 2002 led to the creation of stakeholder savings products such as pensions.

Born in Rhodesia – now Zimbabwe – Mr Sandler graduated with a first-class degree in engineering from Cambridge before joining Boston Consulting Group in 1976. He spent 12 years as a consultant with Boston and Booz Allen Hamilton, gaining an MBA from Stanford University, before entering the financial world as chief executive of Exco, the money broker.

It was his tenure at Lloyd’s of London from 1995 to 1999 that brought him note as an industry troubleshooter. He helped to settle an acrimonious dispute between the insurance market and wealthy individuals who had been persuaded to act as underwriters.

He moved to NatWest in 1999 at a time when the bank was attempting to fight off bids from Bank of Scotland and the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS). RBS eventually prevailed, but Mr Sandler again won plaudits for the defence strategy he put in place.

Since leaving NatWest in 2000 he has maintained a portfolio of nonexecutive directorships, including the chairmanship of Computacenter, Kyte Group, the derivatives trading house, Oxygen, the insurance intermediary, and Paternoster, the pensions buyout group. He is also on the board of For-tis, the Belgian-Dutch insurer, and a member of the consortium led by RBS that has just taken over ABN Amro.

He is married with two children and lists golf, skiing, fishing, poker and music among his recreations. He is a trustee of the Royal Opera House. Justin Urquhart Stewart, of Seven Investment Management, described Mr Sandler as a safe pair of hands who was not content with being a “yes man”. He added: “He is someone who demands respect and can deal with difficult people. At Northern Rock, he will have to fight battles like Napoleon – on several fronts at the same time.”

At £90,000 a month, Mr Sandler will earn in two months what the Prime Minister does in a year. He will be assisted by Ann Godbehere, who is to be paid £75,000 a month. Their salaries are likely to be improved.

Ms Godbehere has spent more than 30 years in the insurance business and was previously finance director of the Swiss Re insurance group. She quit in 2006 and last year was appointed a nonexecutive director of the Prudential Insurance Group.

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