London is the mother ship of financial services and, as far as Tim Hames is concerned, that is not going change any time soon. But make no mistake, the decision by the UK to leave the European Union has hit the city as a "meteor strike", he told FN's sister publication Private Equity News in his first big interview since 24 June.

Sitting in his office a short walk from Chancery Lane station, the director-general of the British Private Equity and Venture Capital Association said that Brexit is the "most politically complicated exercise I have ever seen in my professional life by a long way".