Financial workers in the City of London are set to receive a record £7.5bn in bonuses this winter, up 16% on last year, which spells good news for plastic surgeons in the capital as increasing numbers of City types opt to invest their windfalls on expensive cosmetic treatments.
According to the Centre for Economics and Business Research (CEBR) the average City bonus will be £23,000, but there is huge variation and some reports have indicated that around 3000 people will receive a bonus of £1m or more.
Plastic surgeons look set to cash in on the rise as CEBR says bonuses will be spent on cosmetic surgery, among other things. In November the Harley Medical Group said there had been a steep rise in bookings from male City workers. According to a BBC report, bookings from male workers were up 40% in October at the group's City and Harley Street clinics. The top three treatments are liposuction, nose jobs and botox and collagen treatments.
The rise in bonus payments is also good news for estate agents - CEBR says its previous research shows that roughly half of bonuses end up in the higher end of the property market. Bonuses are also spent on cars and shopping.
The CEBR says rising activity in the City led to the creation of 9500 additional jobs in 2005, with the total reaching 325,500 - for the first time recovering beyond the previous peak of 324,200 reached in 2000 before the dot.com crash.
CEBR expects a further 6300 jobs to be created in the City in 2006 as activity continues to increase. If these predictions are justified, the model indicates that there could be a further double digit rise in bonuses next winter.
Wall Street bonuses also reached a record high this year, hitting $21.5bn in 2005, 15.5% higher than $18.6 bn in 2004 and surpassing the previous record of $19.5bn set in 2000 during the peak of the dotcom boom.
The average bonus for a Wall Street worker will be $125,500, an increase of 10% compared with $114,300 in 2004, according to forecasts released by New York state comptroller Alan Hevesi.