Research indicated that predictions Brexit would fuel a swift and massive jobs exodus from the City of London will not translate into reality.

Banks are still planning intensively for potential changes in their operations after Brexit in March 2019 but now expect to move far fewer jobs from London in the run-up to exit day and immediately afterwards.

Professor Patrick Minford, chairman of the pro-Brexit Economists for Free Trade, said: "We welcome this news that we always expected and note that it tallies with our estimates of the extent of passporting [which gives the City access to the single market] and the need to 'work around' any new obstacles.

"It is also consistent with all our research on the City: that it will prosper mightily under Brexit due to better - home-based - regulation, lower input costs as prices come down in the rest of the economy, and its existing huge strengths as the number world financial centre which means it can sell as much as it likes anywhere in the world."

Analysis by the Financial Times newspaper based on interviews with financial institutions concluded that the big international banks were set to move fewer than 4,600 jobs from London in preparation for Brexit.

That would be just 6 per cent of their London workforce and is far below consultants' forecasts of more than 10,000 on day one of Brexit.

Prof Minford said this represented just 0.6 per cent of London's 700,000 financial sector staff, including those outside banks.

"Meanwhile, hiring into London finance is rising at around 3 per cent a year and has gone above its pre-crisis peak," he added.

The research showed as few as 350 jobs may leave Deutsche Bank's London HQ by April 2019, compared to its previous warnings of up to 4,000.

JPMorgan appears on course to lose around 700 London staff before Brexit, compared with pre-referendum warnings of up to 4,000.

However, Rob Rooney of Morgan Stanley International said the long-term impact of Brexit on the City could still be dramatic, looking beyond immediate changes up to and around exit day.

Separately, the Department for International Trade showed the number of UK businesses which export rose by 2.6 per cent or nearly 3,000 in the July to September period, to more than 109,000.

America was the market for the most British goods exporters, followed by Ireland and Germany.

International Trade Secretary Liam Fox urged UK exporters to sign up to the Government-backed international business festival being staged in Hong Kong next March (2018) to showcase and promote British and Asian innovation.

His job is to encourage British exports and foreign investment in the UK, and prepare the ground for post-Brexit free trade deals with countries round the world.

He commented: "Encouraging businesses to boost their exports not only benefits the local economy, but the wider economy too.

"More than a year after the EU referendum, UK exports continue to rise and companies can build on this progress by signing up to my department's GREAT Festival of Innovation in Hong Kong next year.

"The festival will bring together the brightest and best minds across the UK and Hong Kong to increase trade between two developed economies.

"As an international economic department, we will support these efforts by helping businesses make the most of the country's exporting potential through our Exporting is GREAT campaign and through live exporting opportunities on great.gov.uk.”

UK-Hong Kong trade totalled £17.3billion last year, 4.7 per cent more than in 2015 and largely due to growing demand for British exports particularly of electrical machinery and financial services.