Thursday 28 February 2019 1:44 pm | Updated: Monday 03 June 2019 1:38 am

London business confidence falls more sharply than anywhere in the country but Lloyds Bank backs City’s ‘resilience’

Business confidence among London firms fell sharply in February after a buoyant start to the year due to uncertainty at home and a slowdown abroad.

But Lloyds Bank, conducting the survey, expected confidence to bounce back in the coming months, citing the resilience of the City’s firms.

Confidence among London businesses fell 31 points to just five per cent in February – the sharpest monthly drop in the country, according to the latest business barometer by Lloyds Bank’s commercial banking arm.

Firms’ expectations for the future and their views on the UK economy both deteriorated, it said.

The bank, which struck a bullish tone over Brexit and the UK’s economic prospects, backed confidence to rise in the coming month.

“We shouldn’t forget that the capital was the most confident region in the UK in January and that London firms have proven their resilience time and time again in the past,” Lloyds Bank Commercial Banking’s London director Paul Evans said.

“For that reason alone, we expect confidence to recover in the coming months.”

London business surveyed last month were split on whether the UK’s departure from the EU was negatively impacting their business activity expectations.

But this month a net balance of 14 per cent of the 160 firms asked said Brexit was now harming their expectations.

Lloyds Bank economist Hann-Ju Ho said the optimism felt at the start of the year was “no more than a blip” but suggested a recovery was on the cards should the uncertainty subside.