The worst is over, say accountants

Mr Brooks, who is also director at City-based Brandenburg Securities, said the diagnosis from the institute's quarterly survey of 1,000 members is showing a positive trend in the economy.

The 53-year-old, who took on his new role last month, representing 31,000 London accountants of the 133,000 national society members, said: "For the last six quarters the survey has shown that confidence is falling. This one shows confidence has recovered."

While that is good news, Mr Brooks warns we should not expect a boom anytime soon.

He said: "Our view is that the bottom will be this year. What we want to see is a rebound. The Government thinks there will be, but the economists say no there won't be. It will flatline for a year to 18 months.

"Then there will be a gradual improvement but the upturn will be shallow."

The recession could have been more sustained according to Mr Brooks, who said this is the biggest decline in GDP since 1955.

However, the vast amount of information and research resources available to business leaders has made it easier to form a strong defence against the downturn.

He said: "An awful lot of leaders were very worried, but they've got used to it and adapted rapidly - cutting costs, expenditure and, if they have to, headcount.

"The actions that needed to be taken in the private sector have been taken. There's been a rapid contraction."

However, there are fears for the future, such as London possibly losing its position as a key financial centre.

Mr Brooks, who has had 30 years of experience in banking, securities and the finance sector, said he worries government taxation changes, such as the proposed 50 per cent rate for high earners, could deter people from coming to the capital.

Other negative impacts are tighter regulation and what Mr Brooks calls "hygiene factors".

He said: "In regulation, the Financial Services Authority has made clear it will go in hard against banks and hedge funds. That is not popular.

"We've already had a steady reduction in the number of banks represented in London and a substantial reduction in bank branches. That could be made worse if regulation made things unpleasant.

"The standard of living in London is also a key issue.

"There is always natural competition from up-and-coming areas. Frankfurt has been pushing for years. On a personal level London is a less pleasant place to live because of factors such as the congestion charge, construction and public transport.

"They won't force people out but they may deter people from coming in."

However, as long as these factors are reduced, Mr Brooks believes London is strongly placed to maintain its position as a leading financial centre.

He said: "The advantages London has far outweigh those disadvantages. It has the established English law, good communications and an extremely strong body of personal skills.

"You go to a financial centre in other parts of this country or abroad and there's a few quality professionals but not as many as here.

"Because we've got these fantastic guys and girls, we're in a position to attract business and it's not possible to get this quality in, say, Paris.

Here there are professionals in large numbers within a very small space."

Mr Brooks, who worked in Docklands for a period, including while One Canada Square was being topped out, also has high hopes for Canary Wharf and believes it has the strength to be a huge force in future banking.

He said: "I think it's a base that's really better than almost any other commercial centre.

"The quality of office space is superb. It's managed to get so many leading institutions and accountancy firms to base resources there.

"There's also the relative youth of people in the area - a lot of young, able staff. If there was one way you could improve it, there should be more small businesses out there.

"If you're looking for a 1,000-metre office space, you're better served in the City.

"Also there needs to be more executive housing available. But overall it's a very exciting place."

- Mr Brooks said one of his key priorities in his new role was to build more involvement with members at Canary Wharf.

He said: "It's the one area we need to do something to increase contact with members.

"We want to put a lot more events on in Canary Wharf. We have 1,300 just from those registered to us there. It's a young group. Across London we have 25 per cent of our members under 35. We believe it's greater on the Wharf.

"Our intention is to establish a permanent programme of appropriate services for our members in areas such as business development, networking and techniques for selling.

"There will be career development sessions, particularly for our younger members, on issues such as chairing meetings and CV writing."