COMPANIES in the UK financial services sector today reported strong growth in activity for the third quarter in a row.

Firms polled in the latest FInancial Services Survey by the CBI and PriceWaterhouseCoopers considered the level of their business to be only slightly below normal – the best result since the financial crisis began in September 2007.

A third of firms polled said that business volumes rose during the first quarter of 2011 while 11% said they fell. The resulting balance of +22% exceeded firms’ expectations and was only slightly below the balances of +27% and +28% logged in the preceding two quarters. Growth in business is anticipated to pick up further in the coming three months with a figure of +30%.

Business volumes grew across the sub-sectors – apart from banking, where volumes were stable and finance houses, where they fell.