Nearly half of 200 UK directors of technology, media and telecoms firms surveyed by corporate finance boutique Cobalt believe the TMT sector will fare better than the rest of the economy if a recession hits. Moreover, 80 per cent reckon market opportunities will still lie in the US and Western Europe – despite the rapid growth of the emerging economies.

However, the government is unlikely to be impressed by their optimism as 78 per cent said they had lost confidence in the government’s economic management following the proposed changes to capital gains tax.