Profile: Dubbed "Fred the Shred" by the Glasgow Herald, Royal Bank of Scotland chief executive Mr Fred Goodwin has cultivated a reputation for ruthlessness rare even in the cut-throat world of international banking.
But he has bridled at suggestions his chief talent is as a cost- cutter. Nor is he keen to discuss his personal life; apart from the intriguing nugget that it has always been his ambition to own a Triumph Stag, little is known of his personal affairs.
Mr Goodwin's formula for dealing with challenges is to put together a team of people, reach a consensus on the obstacles to be overcome, devise a shared plan, allocate the tasks and "get on with it and don't deviate".
He had his first taste of corporate power in 1985, reorganising the Rosyth Royal Dockyard in Scotland.
Five years later, he helped ready Short Brothers, the largest industrial employer in Northern Ireland, for its subsequent privatisation.
A move to Glasgow's Clydesdale Bank followed. He brokered its takeover of Yorkshire Bank. In the wake of the deal, he was appointed chief executive of Yorkshire Bank.
His subsequent move to Edinburgh's Royal Bank of Scotland broke the taboo on top management from Scottish banks moving between the nation's two biggest cities.
Not long afterwards, Mr Goodwin underscored his determination to become an establishment figure by taking the chair of the The Prince's Trust in Scotland, which he promptly reorganised.
Diversification has been one of the watchwords of his tenure at the bank. The bank has joint ventures with food group Tesco and Virgin Direct and a bank assurance partnership between CGNU, Royal Scottish Assurance and National Westminster Life Assurance. It also owns Direct Line, the UK's largest motor insurance underwriter.
Challenged on the £814,000 (€1.17 million) bonus he was paid for overseeing the £21 billion acquisition of NatWest bank and Irish subsidiary Ulster Bank - Mr Goodwin is reported to have said he knew of "people in any wine bar in the City of London who are getting more".
Yesterday Mr Goodwin insisted the Royal Bank of Scotland wouldn't sell Ulster Bank.
He said: "People keep on speculating about when we were going to sell Ulster bank. we didn't have the remotest intention of selling Ulster Bank."
Earlier this summer, Ulster Bank sold its stockbroking subsidiary, NCB, to a group of its senior management and the corporate finance specialist Key Capital, in a deal believed to be worth up to 20 million.
