Northern Rock brings in Freud

The bank turned to the agency to work alongside City firm Finsbury when droves of customers withdrew money two weeks ago.

Freud’s role is believed to centre around restoring faith from customers. It also wants to tempt back those who formed massive queues to withdraw over £2bn earlier this month.

Northern Rock is now confronted by takeover talks that have the potential to unnerve customers further and have caused its share price to yo-yo over the past week.

The ‘run’ on the bank was eventually calmed by the Government promising to secure customers’ investments should Northern Rock collapse.

But even that move has not persuaded its entire customer base to return.