Rich setting up offices to protect family assets

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The organisations, usually run by a family member and designed to protect the wealth for future generations, also sort out staffing, children's education and security as well as managing the family homes, holiday villas, yachts and legal matters.

Specialist management consultants Scorpio Partnership claim private offices have been set up for more than 300 families in the capital as well as another 100 "multi-family offices", in which rich families have teamed up to boost their investment capacity.

Sebastian Dovey, Scorpio's managing partner, said the group was becoming an increasing force in London's financial centre.

"Family offices could become the new icon for the financial services industry, displacing the ubiquitous hedge fund manager," he said.

Many of the family offices are secret because they are not officially regulated, making it difficult to specify exactly how many are operating.

But Mr Dovey said he estimated the number had grown by 15 per cent a year for the past three years.

Family offices have long been popular among the upper echelons in the US but have been slower to take off in Europe, although many are well established in Zurich and Geneva.

Scorpio estimates there are now more than 1,700 ultra-wealthy people worth more than £50 million in the UK, with total assets of almost £460 billion - far more than rival European markets such as France, Spain and Italy.