"We have spent the past three years ensuring that we engage correctly with our client base," banker Alasdair Gardner said last week.
Such a statement might be a commonplace for most business leaders in Scotland, but coming from the man who holds the purse-strings to much of Scotland's corporate lending, it took on extra significance.
Mr Gardner, an Edinburgh University graduate, father of three, and qualified rugby referee, is the former head of energy for HBOS, who was put into the Bank of Scotland business lending hotseat three years ago this month.
Please enable cookies in your browser to display the rest of this article.