According to trade organisation The City UK1, the country is now the world’s leading exporter of financial services. The value of the UK’s trade surplus in financial services is double that of the next largest country trade surpluses recorded by Switzerland, the US and Luxembourg.

Financial and related professional services contributed £174bn to the UK economy in 2012, representing 12.6% of total economic output. Altogether, more than two million people work in financial and related professional services, with two-thirds employed outside London. Some 20 towns and cities in the UK each have over 10,000 people employed in the sector. And of course London, the jewel in the crown, competes only with New York to be the world’s financial centre.

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