Governor neatly sums up our crisis of confidence halting UK growth But on the banks making more loans he said: "Lending to businesses has been falling right through the period since the crisis started and that is a major problem. That's why we will be announcing the details of our funds for lending scheme which will make funding available to banks for four years. This is good news. Such cheaper wholesale money will fund cheaper commercial lending. But the scheme, and a related relaxation of liquidity rules, is a significant U-turn of Bank regulations which had forced lenders to hoard cash unnecessarily, choking off credit. But all this may still be too late to reverse the crisis of confidence the Governor alluded to. You can have all the cheap money in the world but if there's no demand for it if the exercise is academic. Sir Michael is best choice for Barclays Sir Michael Rake is the right man to become Barclays chairman. Yes, he's already on the board but that's an advantage. An outsider as chief executive is desirable but to have both roles going to Barclays strangers is too risky, even for a strong external candidate such as Lord Davies, the ex-Standard Chartered chairman. A new Barclays chief executive, Bill Winters for example, needs a chairman who knows his way around the empire and who is familiar with its recent history. Sir Michael is an independently minded soul so won't stand in the way of change. A combination of new blood and experience is needed. The choreography is important too. A new chairman should be appointed first, who then finds a chief executive and is around to be held accountable for the choice. It also makes it easier to recruit a chief executive if they know who the chairman is. Time is not on Barclays side, however, which is a secondary reason for why Sir Michael's internal candidacy is preferable. Discount chain's clear flotation plans Poundland hiring Tesco's outgoing finance director, Andrew Higginson, is as clear a sign as any that it's planning a float. Higginson is unlikely to join a company that simply gets flipped from one private equity owner to another. Current owners Warburg Pincus need a reassuring face at the helm to convince a sceptical market this will be different from previous private equity-backed retail floats. But Poundland could be an unlikely candidate to restore some confidence. Its growth record looks established with more to go. It's a rare positive story from a fast changing high street. It reflects the reality of consumers becoming more promiscuous about where they shop and for what. Poundland has embedded a permanent bargain mentality into shoppers. Warburg Pincus will still have to price Poundland reasonably, with plenty left for new investors. Ensuring that is what Higginson is staking his reputation on, if he wants his non-executive portfolio to grow.