Rich Middle Eastern shoppers descend on London in pre-Ramadan rush

The weak pound has made the annual pre Ramadan-rush West End shopping frenzy one of the busiest yet, London’s luxury retail experts and the owners of Britain’s oldest shopping centre suggested earlier.

A number of retailers have benefited from a wave of rich Middle Eastern shoppers that have flocked to the capital over the last fortnight, ahead of the beginning of Ramadan at the end of this week.

High-end shoe designer Lucy Choi said: "We've noticed a positive increase in both footfall into our flagship London store, as well as expenditure from purchases made by our UAE customers.”

In Mayfair, The Burlington Arcade which was built in 1819 and is owned by Thor Equities and Meyer Bergman, saw “high sales of big ticket items” such as watches, perfumes and leather goods. Stores at the centre include Chanel and Manolo Blahnik.

Ellen Lewis, head of retail marketing at Meyer Bergman, said: “This year’s pre-Ramadan period has been particularly busy. We attribute this rise in sales and visits to the weakened pound.”

April was also a booming month according to retail analysts Global Blue.

The firm said that on average Middle Eastern shoppers spent £1,048 per transaction in and around Mayfair, St James’s and Piccadilly. That is up 8% from April 2016.