London: Traditional trading

Join INEZ SHARP as she spends two days visiting London's traditional shops and restaurants. With the euro high and the pound low, there's never been a better time to buy British.

Download a two-page excerpt from our February London feature as a PDF and experience for yourself the journalistic and linguistic quality that Spotlight represents: Traditional trading, Spotlight 2/2009

Here is a short sample from Spotlight Audio, featuring Inez Sharp reading from her article:

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1. How far has the pound fallen? Well, UK properties are now worth between 40 and 50 percent less than they were at this time last year. That's how far. Take this example: The property consultants and estate agents Strutt & Parker have a house in Cadogan Street, a top London address, for sale at £1.95 million (€2 million). At the end of May, the house was priced at £2.75 million, and £1 was worth €1.30, making it €3.57 million. If this trend continues, a prime London house could be bought for almost half the value it had a year ago.

2. Eurostar has reported a 15 percent rise in the number of people travelling to London since Christmas. Aude Criqui of Eurostar told the BBC that the jump in passengers was "directly linked" to the weakening pound. But retailers in some European cities say that London is taking customers from their shops. Brussels has been badly hit, as it is only two hours by train from St Pancras.

3. At the luxury department store Harrods, giant videoscreens with a golden euro symbol advise European tourists to take advantage of their powerful currency. "There is only one euro — Approfita!" Italians are told, while Spaniards are urged: "¡Toma ventaja!"

4. If your shopping bag and your bank account are big enough, an Aston Martin DBS sports car might be a good buy. Right now, this beautiful feat of British engineering is €60,000 cheaper in the UK than in continental Europe. Talking of cars, the weak pound means that some Europeans are buying left-hand-drive Porsches from London dealers to drive back home.