According to a recent report published by Imas-Insight, a financial data provider, the number of people working in the UK’s financial sector has slumped to its lowest level in seven years following wide-scale job culls across the sector.

The FSA register shows a slump with more than 12,000 people from various sectors wiped off the register, a 7% drop since February 2008.

Nomura, Royal Bank of Scotland, UniCredit and Aviva Investors were amongst those who announced redundancies in recent months. Meanwhile, other firms have also been quietly reducing staff levels, according to the FSA register.

Macquarie, The Australian M&A Advisory bank, has cut the number of FSA-registered staff in London to its lowest level in six years.

However, there are some firms in London which are still hiring, with equity research analysts some of the most sought-after positions.

Our consultants are seeing lots of opportunity right now with boutiques and mid-market firms, looking to pick up talented individuals.

Private Equity firm BC Partners have appointed three banks to manage the £1bn float of the Fitness First chain.  Fitness first, founded by Mike Balfour in 1992 and bought over by BC Partners in 2005, operates 550 clubs in 20 geographic locations, 162 of which are based in the UK.

Credit Suisse, JP Morgan and Asian-based bank CLSA will oversee the planned flotation on the Singapore stock market in a move that will be a blow to the London Stock Exchange.

BC is expected to raise around S$600m-S$700m (£292m-£340m) from the IPO depending on demand.

The IPO flotation is due to launch in Q3 and will leave the private equity firm with more than 60pc of the listed group.

Britain plans to turn London into a major foreign exchange trading center for the Chinese renminbi to benefit from faster growth in Asia while strengthening the city’s position as a financial center in the wake of the banking crisis.

“London is perfectly placed to act as a gateway for Asian banking and investment in Europe, and a bridge to the United States,” Mr. Osborne, The Chancellor, said in a speech to the Asian Financial Forum in Hong Kong. “This is not just an accident of time zone, or our language, although both are important. It reflects London’s strength in product development, its regulatory structure, and the depth, breadth and international reach of its financial markets.”

The pledge comes as Britain is increasingly feeling the effects of an economic slowdown across Europe, and some British banks have threatened to move their headquarters abroad in light of stricter financial regulation.

The government hopes that steps toward creating a Chinese currency hub in London will help strengthen the city’s role as a financial center vis-à-vis New York and Hong Kong, while helping  Britain attract Chinese investments in other sectors, including infrastructure.

Glencore and Xstrata have formally announced their “merger of equals” which would value the combined new business at £56bn. Glencore chief executive Ivan Glasenberg said the merger would create “a new powerhouse in the global commodities business”.

This‘Mega Merger’ will surely have a significant impact on commodity prices across the world as yet another monopoly is formed and changes the layout of the playing field once again. More interesting will be the response by the investment banks which have recently also gotten aggressively into the commodities space.

The rumour mill is churning on whether Glencore and Xstrata may now take over Anglo America plc.  Xstrata failed in 2009 to convince Anglo to combine in a “merger of equals.” By acquiring Anglo’s assets in diamonds, platinum and steelmaking coal, the Glencore-Xstrata entity would vault past Rio (RIO) and rival BHP, the world’s largest mining company by revenue, data compiled by Bloomberg show.

Over the last 24 months the mining and construction industry has experienced a favourable hiring climate in the first quarter of 2012.  The sector made an impressive recovery after 2009, where no other global industry sector has experienced comparable growth rates or volumes.

Euan Corbett our Equities Specialist, predicts 2012 will be another record-setting year for Mining M&A with a heightened pace of deal activity.

Facebook has announced its IPO, filing its intentions with the US Securities and Exchange Commission.  The talk pre-announcement is that Facebook will be valued at anywhere between $75bn and $100bn. Revenues in 2011 have been estimated at just short of $4bn, with further growth expected in 2012.

With Google setting up a new base in East London, we are seeing other big tech firms also hovering around the city.  Bigger tech companies are expanding into London, introducing expertise in development, software, technology and Ecommerce opportunities.

Old Street roundabout, has been coined the Silicon Roundabout since 2009, being  Britain’s answer to California’s tech-centric  Silicon Valley.  This was the start of a dozen digital start-ups three years ago, but now there are at least 300 tech companies situated here.

“Tech is the new rock’n'roll,” says Richard Moross, who became one of the Roundabout’s founding fathers when his online printing company Moo.com arrived in 2008. “TechCityis a bit like  Kings Road was in the 60s.”

The Tech sector is booming right now and we are seeing lots of recruitment opportunities in the Tech Advisory space.

Louise Högberg, our Corporate Finance Specialist has a number of roles on with varies Technology M&A boutiques in London.  Louise can be contacted directly on (0207) 156 5177.