The UK’s financial sector enjoyed its first growth spell in two years during the third quarter, but the sector is concerned about whether demand will hold up, according to a survey by the Confederation of British Industry.

Nearly a third of 89 firms polled reported a rise in business volumes in the three months to 2 September, against 24 per cent reporting a decline, giving a balance of 7 per cent, the CBI, a lobby group for large UK firms, said in a press release.

The response was the first time firms reporting growth outnumbered those suffering a contraction since September 2007.

Despite there being some tentative signs of recovery, differences remain between individual industry sectors, the survey said, although it did not provide a separate category for wealth management. Securities traders and investment managers have seen strong volume growth over the past quarter, while banks and building societies expect that growth will resume over the next three months. By contrast, life insurers and insurance brokers anticipate further, albeit slower, falls in business volumes.

Recent figures on London's financial services industry shows the number of vacancies rose in August from the previous month, according to data published in September by Morgan Mckinley, the recruitment firm.