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Those workers have been living in fear for their jobs ever since RBS announced it was closing many of the offices in its insurance business –including Churchill and Direct Line – under plans to axe hundreds of jobs.

The potential harm to the region's economy was massive, along with the damage to the region's reputation as one of Britain's strongest

financial centres.

However, RBS have announced that they are not only planning to retain the three sites in Leeds and the single office in Doncaster, but, in a tremendous statement of faith in the skills of the staff there, the remit of those sites could be expanded.

The decision comes after Bradford and Bingley announced last year that it was working on plans to turn itself into a mortgage services provider to safeguard hundreds of jobs at its 1,000-strong Crossflatts headquarters.

What the economy – both nationally and regionally – now desperately needs is a period of stability in the financial sector.

That is what taxpayers paid for when the previous Government spent more than 800bn propping up the banks.

Homebuyers need mortgages to be more attainable and businesses are desperate for money to start flowing, with loans not just available but at rates that make them viable.

The country's finances are still in a perilous state and the danger of a return to recession remains a significant threat, but glimpses of hope such as this are signs that the region could, just, be starting out on the long road to recovery.