Key facts about UK-based financial and related professional services 2023

For yet another year, the wider social and economic context within which the financial and related professional services industry operates is fraught.

After weathering the worst of the Covid-19 pandemic and then the initial economic fall-out of the war in Ukraine, the UK now faces a gloomy macroeconomic outlook, with the latest forecasts from the Bank of England (in its February 2023 Monetary Policy Report) projecting seven consecutive quarters of negative growth in 2023 and 2024, with only a subdued return to growth in the last quarter of 2024.

Against this backdrop, the UK-based financial and related professional services industry continues to support individuals and businesses in their day-to-day activities through familiar services like saving, mortgage provision, and business lending.

This report highlights the strong contribution that the financial and related professional services industry continues to make to the domestic economy. Just as it did during the pandemic-induced economic shock of 2020, the industry – through its role as an enabler of growth in other sectors – will support the economy through these difficult times and hopefully help to mitigate the worst of the impending slowdown.

Nearly 2.5 million people in the UK work in financial and related professional services

This accounts for 7.6% of total UK employment or 1 in 13 people in employment, with two thirds of this employment based outside of London

Financial services has more than 1.1m people in employment:

Banking icon banking - 362,000

Insurance icon insurance - 358,000

Fund management iconfund management – 80,000

Other financial services iconother financial services – 311,000

 

Related professional services has over 1.3 million people in employment:

management consultancy iconmanagement consultancy - 507,000

accountancy - 459,000

legal services - 375,000


Financial and related professional services
contributed
£275bn
to UK GVA* in 2022
*Gross value added


In 2021, UK private equity funds invested £34.8bn in more than 1,800 UK companies


The outstanding amount of loans made available by major banks to UK businesses was £538.7bn as of November 2023
37% of this was lent to SMEs


UK fund managers
helped to protect and grow around £11.6trn in financial assets in 2021, up 5% from 2020


In 2021, UK private equity funds invested £34.8bn in more than 1,800 UK companies


LawTech businesses in the UK received around £674m in investment as of December 2020

Enhancing customer experience through digital financial services


The number of annual transactions made with contactless payment cards was 13.1bn in 2021, up 36% from the previous year


65% of the population used online banking and 57% used mobile banking in 2021


In 2021, the number of payments via the Faster Payments Services (FPS) reached almost 3.6bn
39% of all business-to-business payments were done using FPS or other remote banking system


Cash payments decreased by 2%
in 2021 from the previous year