At 7am a year ago today, HSBC swooped in and rescued Silicon Valley Bank UK following the dramatic collapse of its US parent, buying it for £1.
It was the culmination of days of horror for Britain’s tech sector. Scores of startups and scaleups suddenly faced losing their bank accounts – their only bank accounts, for many. One founder told me his family were in tears as he geared up to shut the business he spent years building – he didn’t have the funds to pay his own staff, let alone suppliers and contractors.
