Chris Ingram, the feisty chairman and founder of Tempus Group, the marketing and media communications company, does not have much time for investment bankers in general and even less time for most City of London advisers.

What really annoys him is the prevailing pessimism he sees in the UK financial community. Ingram's own energetic can-do attitude is closer to a US business culture. 'You won't find me complaining about the US influence on the market here - it definitely needs shaking up,' he says.