Southern punters stand to get more for their Euro if they shop in Newry this Christmas

SHOPPERS from the Republic stand to get more for their euro if they choose to do their Christmas shopping in Newry this festive season according to Brian Heaphy, owner of the cities Bureau De Change.

Mr Heaphy, who is the proud proprietor of the currency exchange located on Hill Street, stated that whilst shoppers from the south always generally stand to get better value for their euro if they exchange it into sterling and then make their purchases in the northern currency, he has seen a roughly 25% increase in the number of southerners coming up and making the exchange since the onset of the festive season.

Currency Exchange

“At the Bureau De Change we facilitate currency exchange whether this is sterling into euro or the 60 different currencies that we offer, such as US or Canadian Dollars. We also offer our customers a service to transfer money to and from different accounts.

“However the core of our business is the exchange of euro into sterling and because we are so close to the border a lot of people come up to do different things in the north such as shopping, dental work, and buying cars. There have been 25% more people coming up from the south to exchange their euro into sterling around Christmas time because they will get more value for their sterling if they buy up here in sterling as opposed to euro. This is people from the south who come up here for Christmas shopping. You would also have a lot of people that work in the Republic of Ireland that live in Newry so they would come in to exchange their wages from euro into sterling. On average we get a couple of hundred of people coming into us to exchange their euro into sterling a week.”

Mr Heaphy, explained that whilst the euro has proven to be stronger than sterling since brexit, shoppers from the Republic still stand to get better value if they shop in the north owing to lower prices.

“Over the past few months the exchange rate has been pretty steady. Most recently the sterling has strengthened against the euro. For a while the euro was a bit stronger. Since Brexit sterling has been historically weak and it hasn't really come back to the pre Brexit level.

“What drives the exchange rate is financial figures out of both the Euro Zone and then those out of England. Inflation also plays a key role and interest rates play a key role in how the exchange rates are fluctuating between the two. Having said this you would get better value if you changed euro to sterling and then bought in sterling as opposed to euro.

“ For example if you lived in the south and you got paid in Euro, with the strength of the euro against the sterling if you came up here and bought a basket of shopping then you would probably get more value if you exchanged the euro into sterling rather than if you spent the Euro in the same shop in the Republic of Ireland. It would not work the other way because if items are more expensive in the south then you are not going to get any value.

“Having said that there are certain things that are cheaper in the south, sometimes butter is cheaper in the south than in the north. However alcohol is cheaper in the north than in the south because of their minimum alcohol pricing.”