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Financial companies Henderson Group and Krom River Partners are quitting the UK for Ireland and Switzerland as both countries have lower corporation tax compared with the UK rate of 28 per cent.

On the basis of this, Jerome de Lavenere Lussan, managing partner of investment management consultancy Laven Partners, said it may be that London was losing its financial appeal.

He said: "Financial services is the number one success story in London, but it is looking more and more likely that this will change. We are not expecting a mass exodus of managers, but a steady erosion of the financial industry, which is very mobile, as asset managers decide to move out for personal, life style and tax reasons.

"The government runs the risk of making the industry feel unwelcome through tax investigations and ambiguous tax rules. People who may have been toying with the idea of moving are starting to act. Our neighbours are waiting, the Swiss have established a special committee to review how they can be more competitive."