The B&B sale comes as the Government makes mixed progress offloading other investments it was forced to make during the crisis. While it has successfully slashed it stake in Lloyds Banking Group from 43pc to less than 3pc, and is expected to exit the lender entirely in early May, it still owns 72pc of Royal Bank of Scotland. Lloyds and RBS have seen their fortunes diverge since their bailouts, with the former now generating its biggest profits since the crisis and the latter still suffering heavy losses.