For TSB, a good day on the stock market, and a field day in court

But this promising valuation comes with a sting in the tail.

Regular readers may remember a few weeks ago this newspaper reported that activist investor Crystal Amber was building a stake in NBNK, the vehicle that also tried to buy TSB but lost out to the Co-op.

NBNK was run by former Barclaycard chief Gary Hoffman and competed against the Co-op in earlier rounds, alongside Hugh Osmond’s Sun Capital.

However when the Co-op deal ended, Lloyds went ahead with plans to float the business, culminating in last week’s successful initial public offering.

Crystal Amber, which is chaired by William Collins, has built its stake in order to lobby for change.

After failing to buy the TSB branches or find another banking business to acquire, NBNK’s operations were scaled back and costs reduced to a minimum.

However it retained its listing, and at the end of December had £20.2m of cash on its balance sheet, according to its latest results.

Wilbur Ross, the US investor, owns a 29.9pc stake in NBNK and has been vocal in saying he would like to use the vehicle to buy up UK bank assets.

Crystal Amber has now built a more than 25pc stake in NBNK, which is to all intents and purposes a cash shell, and continues to add to its holding.

As a result, it is in a strong position to influence what happens to the Aim-listed vehicle.

TSB’s flotation quantifies NBNK’s potential lost opportunity profit – which brokers at Numis Securities estimate to be some £600m - an issue which should be front and centre in NBNK shareholders' minds when the company holds its annual meeting in London on Monday.

Although Crystal Amber is not expected to speak at the meeting, it is likely that it will point out to the market later today that it believes there is a legal case to answer, not just for the £20m NBNK spent on bidding for the TSB business, but the £600m of lost profit the vehicle suffered.

Crystal Amber is not likely to be a lone voice. Given that former NBNK chairman Lord Levene of Portsoken previously told MPs that Lloyds chose the Co-op as a result of “political considerations,” the legal case will certainly have some ammunition.

The brief glimpse of a silver lining that is the flotation of TSB for Lloyds may yet be shrouded by dark clouds again.

Looking after the engine

All three political parties agree that small business is the engine of the British economy.

However, since the financial crisis, it has been clear that small business owners have not always been treated in the best possible way.

As the Telegraph’s past swaps mis-selling campaign highlighted, those who run some of our most entrepreneurial companies have struggled with complex financial products they didn’t always understand.

Others have found it hard to even find finance, and have turned to new forms of funding, such as peer-to-peer lending or crowdfunding in order to grow. But it is not just banks by whom such business has been constrained.

This week’s Small Business, Enterprise and Employment Bill, which is to be brought by the skills minister Matthew Hancock, will attempt to cut down that other bugbear of small business: red tape. In it, the Government will promise to ensure regulations are reviewed and remain effective, and will legislate to ensure large companies publish payment practices so that small companies are not penalised by unfair terms.

More importantly, as well as measures designed to sort out existing problems, it will provide support for future growth, not just at home, but also abroad. Expanding small business access to UK Export Finance will be a major step, and one that will help companies access international markets which might otherwise be inaccessible.

Although the UK economy continues to grow, it is only with measures like these that the engine of the British economy – the small business sector – will continue to whir.

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