The hiring boom seen in London in 2015 so far pushed up salaries by almost a fifth last month, according to Morgan McKinley's London Employment Monitor.

As demand for new employees remained high, those securing new jobs were able to demand salary increases by an average of 19 per cent in February, according to new data from Morgan McKinley.

Despite a slight month-on-month fall from January's 21 per cent average salary increase, February's figure exceeded the 15 per cent rise seen in the same month last year.

“Demand for strong candidates, particularly in the regulatory space, continues to outstrip supply,” said Hakan Enver, operations director at Morgan McKinley Financial Services. “We believe the first quarter as a whole will show increasing levels of hiring activity, with remuneration rising to attract scarce talent.”

Enver attributed rising demand for financial regulatory professionals to a general repatriation of banks' middle- and back-office and support roles, as well as the rising importance of risk and compliance functions. The latter is an unsurprising trend in light of ever-present cyber threats and recent tax scandals that have shrouded the industry.

According to a survey by Ernst & Young earlier this month, 43 per cent of the UK's biggest banks expect this year to bring hiring increases. This points to a boost in confidence in the British economy, but there remain jitters around May's election alongside low oil prices and ongoing fears of a “Grexit”.

The number of financial services jobs new to the market dipped by 17 per cent from January to February, the firm said.

Recruitment firm Morgan McKinley deduced the data from its own weekly records of new job vacancies and new candidates registering with the firm for employment.