ROYAL Bank of Scotland (RBS) chief executive Stephen Hester told an audience of Liverpool business people the bank had to get back in touch with its customers.

At a Liverpool Chamber of Commerce breakfast event in the city’s Hope Street Hotel, Mr Hester also admitted that without the £45bn taxpayer bailout, RBS, which also incorporates NatWest, would no longer exist.

The bank is now 84% state-owned and this has led to calls for the bank to act more in the public good.

Mr Hester acknowledged the bank’s responsibilities, particularly to small firms, but added that it was in everyone’s interests that profitability was restored as soon as possible.

“There is no doubt that the financial services industry made a lot of mistakes in the years leading up to the credit crunch,” he said.

“I think the banks were the beneficiary of the expansion of the sector but I think in the process we lost contact with our customers.

“These are the lessons that I think we have now taken on board.

“A profitable successful RBS is in everyone’s interest, including the British taxpayer.

“Profits shouldn’t be seen as a dirty word but of course those profits have to be sustainable.

“RBS would not exist today were it not for the support of the taxpayer.

“The best way we can show our gratitude is to serve our customers well, make ourselves safe, become profitable and give the Government its money back.

“We want to pay back the support we have had both literally and metaphorically.”

RBS, along with other banks, got itself into trouble prior to 2008 by investing in too many so-called “toxic assets” in the property sector.