Cazenove, the UK investment bank, did not pay staff any discretionary bonuses last year because of the tough trading conditions which saw its pre-tax profit fall by 33% to £60m (€94.9m) in the year to April.

However its 1,158 workers still shared in the quarterly-profit share scheme which paid them £45m, down 38% from the £73m paid in the previous year. Cazenove's eight board directors, who receive a basic salary of £125,000 each, were paid £3.9m of the total profit pool.