Companies in regulated fields such as finance are implementing their plans for a hard Brexit

Thousands of jobs in the City of London will begin migrating to continental Europe from next month despite Theresa May’s success in negotiating a standstill transition deal, senior business figures have told The Times.

EU leaders are expected to sign off today on the legal wording of a Brexit implementation period that will effectively keep the UK aligned with Brussels until the end of 2020. Last night Mrs May told them that the agreement had laid the ground for a “new dynamic” in the talks. But senior industry figures said it would not be enough to stop companies in regulated areas such as finance, chemicals and pharmaceuticals from implementing their contingency plans for a so-called hard Brexit.

All aspects of the deal are