Salaries may no longer be enough to attract candidates to London and the South-East because the cost of living means employees in the North have more disposable income.

Barclays says the perceived wealth gap between the rich South and poor North no longer exists because high house prices and living costs cancel out the larger salaries commanded by workers in or around the capital.

The bank's research found that 24 of the top 50 wealthiest areas in the country are now north of the Severn/Wash divide, with areas such as Sheffield, Leeds, Cheshire and Newcastle figuring prominently in the nation's 'wealth map'.

Although Kensington and Chelsea topped the table with an overall average income of £50,438, northern employers can now compete favourably for staff once candidates take into account the cost of living.

Researchers combined the available salaries and cost of living data for each area to produce an insight into the 'real wealth' of employees around the country.

Mark Till, a director at Barclays, says even more northern areas would have figured in the top 50 if house prices in the North-West had not risen so dramatically.

“The long-held belief that you need to live in London and the South-East to earn a good living has been blown away,” he said.

Jules Blundell, a recruiter at Bluewave International in Sheffield, says the area offers plenty of workplace opportunities.

“There's high-quality accommodation and wages are relatively high,” she said.

A separate study by Pitman Training also found that staff in the North are more keen to get training than those in the South, while Southerners are more likely to leave their employer for job progression.

More than 70 per cent of workers in the North would use training and remain loyal to their employer, compared with just 11 per cent in the South.