Lloyds chief has his work cut out as he prepares for one of banking’s toughest jobs

Lloyds chief has his work cut out as he prepares for one of banking’s toughest jobs

Spare a thought for Antonio Horta-Osorio.The charismatic Portuguese banker steps down as chief executive of Lloyds Banking Group this month following a distinguished 10-year tenure during which he has stabilised the bank and overseen its return to the private sector following its government bailout in the aftermath of the financial crisis.

One indicator of just how settled things have been at Lloyds during the last decade is that, during Mr Horta-Osorio's period at the bank's headquarters on Gresham Street, both HSBC and NatWest Group (the rebadged Royal Bank of Scotland) have each got through three chief executives while Barclays is on its fourth.Running a big and complex beast like Lloyds - which touches the lives of millions of Britons daily - is hard work and Mr Horta-Osorio, who had previously been chief executive of Santander UK, might have hoped for a quieter time in his next job.Instead, he has