London is now bargain capital

LONDON has become the bargain capital of the world as shoppers from America, Europe and the Middle East pour into the West End.

The 20 per cent slump in the value of the pound combined with heavy pre-Christmas discounting means prices are down by as much as half in real terms for foreign visitors.

In early trading today, the pound was worth just €1.1354, just 0.04 cents above from the record low set yesterday.

Store bosses said Americans have returned in numbers not seen since before 9/11 with London - usually seen as one of the world's most expensive cities - at its most affordable for more than 20 years. Up to 10 million overseas visitors are expected to shop in the West End in the run- up to Christmas, helping to offset the downturn in spending from hard-pressed British consumers.

Beverley Aspinall, managing director of Piccadilly store Fortnum & Mason, said: "The strength of the euro has made a huge difference. Last weekend was really phenomenal. More than 70 per cent of the customers in our restaurants were Europeans. And when they come they don't just sit down with a salad. They have a starter, a main, a pudding and a bottle of wine. It's great."

Spending by Americans is up more than 20 per cent on last year but the biggest increase was among visitors from the UAE with a 100 per cent rise, she said.

At Selfridges in Oxford Street spending by Americans is running at 50 to 60 per cent above last year's levels, while French customers are 30 per cent more lavish. It has commissioned research showing that almost 90 per cent of fashion items are now cheaper in the West End than in equivalent stores in Paris, Milan and New York.

The only major nationality to be less in evidence this Christmas is the Russians, whose money helped fuel a boom in 2006 and last year.

Jace Tyrell, spokesman for the New West End Company, which represents traders in Oxford Street, Bond Street and Regent Street, said: "It seems a lot of them have gone home."

Estate agents say wealthy foreign investors are also taking advantage of the weaker pound to pick up bargains. Trevor Abrahamson, of Glentree International, said he had had three enquiries from purchasers with budgets of up to £40million in the past two weeks.