So now we know what people did with all the money they saved by not flying abroad this summer. Data released yesterday from UK business showed a surge in retail spending for August. The CBI Distributive Trades Survey found that people spent or ordered 60% more in shops in August (against an expectation of a 20% rise).
The news helped sterling to remain steady yesterday, holding onto gains it made at the start of the week against both the euro and dollar. It’s been a month in which we’ve seen the highest GBP/EUR rate for 18 months but also one of the sharpest two-week falls of the past year.
The biggest two-week fall of the past year, incidentally, was in the first two weeks of September 2020 when sterling lost 4% of its value – a horrible shock for those who had put down deposits on property over the summer and didn’t protect it with a forward contract.
To prevent that affecting you if repeated this September, call your trader on 020 8003 4915 and lock in your rate with a forward contract for the year ahead.
Like the companies the CBI surveyed, we have had a busy summer at Smart, as people seize the opportunity of relatively empty flights and a quiet tourist season abroad to snap up a home on the Spanish and Algarve costas and Italian and French countryside with a strong pound.
If you have friends or relatives taking advatage of that extra buying power this summer, do tell them how Smart can protect their purchase if/when the pound falls again. If they trade with us we’ll give you a present of £25. You can do that here.
