Survey results from the Confederation of British Industry and PwC showed that sentiment among British financial services firms improved for the first time in twelve quarters.

According to the report, a balance of 8% expects business situation to improve compared with three months ago. This was the fastest since June 2015. Looking ahead to the quarter to March, a net 14% forecast business volumes to return to growth, the strongest expectations since March 2018.

"However, the sector isn't quite out of the woods yet. Against the backdrop of another fall in business and profits, Brexit uncertainty continues to drag on investment plans, and concerns over labour shortages have spiked," Rain Newton-Smith, CBI chief economist, said.

The survey was conducted before the 2019 general election.