The Scottish referendum has hit the financial services sector in Glasgow and Edinburgh hard with job vacancies tumbling over the last three months.

The Scottish referendum has hit the financial services sector in Glasgow and Edinburgh hard with job vacancies tumbling over the last three months.

Financial services jobs created in Edinburgh fell 20 per cent over the quarter while Glasgow recorded a 16 per cent decline, according to the latest figures from financial recruitment firm BrightPool.

Firms scaled back their expansion plans in Scotland's two biggest cities following worries that a Scottish yes vote would have caused financial chaos.

"Concerns over the impact of Scottish independence was widely voiced amongst the financial services sector. This led to a slowdown in recruitment North of the border – despite the cost advantages of Glasgow over other UK cities," said Andrew Hickmore, managing director at BrightPool.

"The financial services industry is traditionally very strong in Scotland. Now the referendum is over, business confidence is returning and recruitment trends in the financial services sector should start to closely match those of the other regions," he added.

Suprisingly the biggest job vacancies were created in the North of England as financial services firms in London try and cut costs.

Liverpool saw a 49 per cent rise from 730 vacancies in 2012  to 1,088 in quarter three 2014. This was followed by York  with a 43 per cent rise from 980 to 1,406 over the same time period, while Manchester (41 per cent) and Leeds (28 per cent) also recorded increases.

At the same time financial services vacancies in London fell by 4 per cent over the two years from 19,888 in 2012 to 19,011 in 2014.

"Moving more back and middle office jobs out of London to the regions is a key part of efforts to improve cost-to-income ratios," said Blackmore.

"There are big savings to be made in both property and staff costs. Financial services employment growth in the regions is rapidly outpacing that of London – that is a clear reversal of the trend before the credit crunch when higher returns on capital meant staff costs were not such a concern."