More than 1,000 EU financial services companies plan to open UK offices after Brexit in a bid to continue serving customers in Britain.

An influx of companies opening offices, hiring staff and renting office space could help to mitigate the economic blow dealt to the City by British institutions moving some of their assets and operations to European financial centres such as Paris and Frankfurt.

A total of 1,441 EU companies had applied to the Financial Conduct Authority by October 2019 for temporary permission to continue operating in the UK after Brexit, according to figures obtained by consultancy Bovill under a freedom of information request.

Temporary clearance will allow banks, insurers and asset managers to carry on serving customers in Britain if the UK and EU do not agree to preserve unfettered access between their financial markets after the Brexit transition period expires at the end of 2020.

It is expected that there will be at least some increase in UK-EU regulatory barriers even if a deal is agreed by December. European firms can currently operate in the UK using their domestic regulatory clearances under the EU's passporting regime.