CHAPTER 5: The Northern Rock Bank Run: An Analysis of Communication within a Distrust Sequence

Banks rely upon depositors’ trust. People depositing their usually hardearned money in banks enable banks to finance loans, mortgages and investments. Depositors are usually more concerned with a bank’s rate of return than a detailed examination of its balance sheet and solvency. Depositors rarely question whether they will be able to withdrawal their money in the future. In this sense, depositors tend to have an unthematised takenfor-granted trust in the institution of banks (Marková, Linell, & Gillespie, 2007). The extent of this trust is remarkable when one considers depositors’ vulnerability. There is a long history of bank insolvency destroying depositors’ taken-for-granted future.