Few central bankers in modern history have been faced with such a stacked in-tray as current governor Andrew Bailey

Today marks the six-year anniversary of his appointment and, during his tenure, he’s had a lot to deal with; a global pandemic, the economic shockwaves of Russia’s Ukraine invasion, spiralling energy prices, double-digit inflation and the disastrous fallout from former PM Liz Truss’s kamikaze ‘mini-budget’, to name a few challenges.

To his credit, Bailey’s early crisis management was decisive. Within days of taking office in March 2020, he chaired emergency meetings as markets convulsed in response to the first UK lockdown.

During the 2022 mini-budget turmoil, which triggered the near-collapse of pension funds, the Bank stepped in with a £20bn emergency gilt-buying programme to avert what he described as a “financial disaster.” That intervention restored order against a backdrop of rapidly evaporating confidence.

His defence of quantitative easing (QE) was a necessary shield to protect jobs and tax revenues, while inflation – once standing at a massive 11 per cent - is now much nearer the Bank’s two per cent target. This has allowed for successive base rate cuts, easing the pain for millions of UK mortgage borrowers and businesses.

But the governor’s fire-fighting successes have done little to quell the flames of criticism levelled at him for his slow decision-making. One critic, in a memorable but possibly unfair dig aimed at the governor, likened his ponderous and deliberate manner to “the mating habits of tortoises.”

Vocal critic Andrew Sentence, a former member of the Bank’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) which Bailey chairs, argued the governor had “lost control” of inflation by tightening too late and then too aggressively. Rate rises, once they came, fed rapidly into mortgage costs, amplifying the cost-of-living crisis for millions of people. Bailey’s cautious communication style has been caricatured as timid, damaging public confidence in the UK’s central bank.

Then there’s QE, which continues to cast a long shadow over his governorship. As quantitative tightening (QT) unwinds the Bank’s balance sheet, the cost to the Treasury is forecast to be a whopping £130bn by 2033. Across the political parties, critics argue the “flood of cash” has shackled taxpayers with a vast bill.

For the specialist lending market in which we operate, these crucial decisions have had very real consequences. Rate volatility drove up funding costs, particularly for non-banks, while QT has tightened liquidity. Above-target inflation has subdued housing development and pushed up costs for home buyers, movers, landlords and businesses.

With two years left of his term, we’d want to see Bailey’s focus shift from crisis containment to market calibration. That means ensuring monetary policy does not unintentionally stifle lending to customers such as SME developers when the economy starts to grow momentum.

It means clearer forward guidance and, crucially, better communication to the market on what the Bank is doing to reduce rate volatility. And it means recognising that non-bank and specialist lenders are no longer peripheral – they are critical to housing delivery, SME growth and regional regeneration.

If inflation’s final descent to target stalls amid fresh geopolitical pressures, as seems will happen over the next few weeks and months, restraint will be required. But so too will pragmatism.

Bailey’s legacy will not be judged solely on whether he quelled inflation, but on whether he leaves behind a stable, trusted framework that supports the full spectrum of UK lending. Stability has won him time. Rebuilding trust and enabling growth will define his final chapter.

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Ryan Etchells, Chief Commercial Officer at Together

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