With business returning to normal following a tough couple of years, the UK's financial services sector is planning for a new round of spending on technology, according to a survey from the Confederation of British Industry (CBI).
Financial firms considers current levels of business as only slightly below normal, the best result since the financial crisis began in September 2007, according to the latest CBI/PwC poll of 94 firms.
Only eleven per cent recorded a fall in volumes during the first three months of the year, marking a third successive quarter of strong growth.
This return of confidence is encouraging companies to increase investment in IT, land, buildings and marketing over the next year, with banks and insurance brokers likely to see the most technology spending.
Ian McCafferty, chief economic adviser, CBI, says: "A third quarter of strong volume growth shows the financial services recovery is building strength. It is particularly good news that firms consider their level of business to be only slightly below normal, for the first time since the financial crisis began in 2007."
Earlier this year research house Celent estimated that global information technology spending by financial services institutions is expected to reach US$363.8 billion in 2011, an increase of 3.7% over 2010 as the industry recovers from the credit crash.