The chief executive of a large London property developer said the capital will survive even the worst-case scenario of tens of thousands of financial services jobs leaving the country because of Brexit — but that it will need to reinvent itself once more to do so.

Toby Courtauld, the head of FTSE-listed Great Portland Estates, which invests in and develops London property, said he expected a difficult period as the UK works through its exit from the European Union, but that he remains a "long-term optimist" about the city's prospects.