The Euro in England

Blitzkrieger

I heard on Working Lunch on BBC yesterday that some UK shops will accept the euro. The only ones I can remember are HMV, Virgin, Safeway and M&S. Which is nice It'll be handy to be able to go the supermarket in England without changing money.

It's a move to make the UK more attractive to tourists after the euro arrives. Why bother changing money and going to rainy old England if you can go to sunny Spain with what's in your arse pocket? More shops/hotels are expected to follow.

Victor

Me: Are your cash registers Euro compliant?

English client: Ha, no, we don't want bloody Euros (sic).

Me: OK, if you don't want the day trippers to spend money in your country, then fine.

English client: Eh.....

GoneShootin

Thought working lunch was on htv ?

if not im dumb

WhiteWashMan

Originally posted by Victor
Me: Are your cash registers Euro compliant?

English client: Ha, no, we don't want bloody Euros (sic).

Me: OK, if you don't want the day trippers to spend money in your country, then fine.

English client: Eh.....

is this in the same way that if you go to england with punts and ask them if their cash registers are punt compliant?

becuase, and forgiveme if im wrong here, the euro isnt legal tender in england after the 1st of january.
it is in most of the rest of europe, but not england.
so, oin that case, that would mean wouldnt it, and im going out on a limb here, that the situation is jst like before, except you change your money from euros to sterling instead of punts to sterling.

so, by that premise, your complete argument is a load of sh1te and you should really think before you post such rubbish shouldnt you?

how many people go on a day trip to england?
apart from ferry trips and because theres no duty free, theres no pointl.

blitz, id be interested to see where you got that information as its the first ive heard, and impretty much up on the debate in england with regards to the euro.
by the way the queen last week dismissed the idea that you could buy things in euros in any of her 'shops'.
by that i suppose she means the tower of london etc etc etc.

The_Bullman

to settle the debate i looked in the rte guide

dum de dum(waiting for the page to load up)de dum de dum

several minutes later
the answer is BBC2

no arguements!

Zaphod Beeblebrox

Why you'd want to come here (England) at all, never mind for a day is a mystery to me. Imagine the scene; a Victorian court:

"Dodgy Dave, you have been found guilty of theft. You are a habitual criminal and as such I shall not allow you the mercy of the gallows... I sentence you to a life of sun, surfing, sex and barbecues... send him to Australia! (dramatic music)"

Why the f\/ck didn't we leave the convicts here and everyone else go to Australia. Stupid ancestors.


"by the way the queen last week dismissed the idea that you could buy things in euros in any of her 'shops'."
-- The poor dear. Just think, one day that will happen to us all. Senility takes no prisoners

Karl Hungus

Originally posted by Blitzkrieger
The only ones I can remember are HMV, Virgin, Safeway and M&S.

Sweet.
HMV in London rules!
Last time I was in London, I went in there and got about 12 CD's for next to nothing.

Got Darkthrone's Transilvanian Hunger for a fiver!

I find it odd that HMV over here have to go charging about 20 quid for it? And most other decent CD's are just as dear, if not more.

Victor

Are you familiar with humble pie?

Originally posted by WhiteWashMan
so, by that premise, your complete argument is a load of sh1te and you should really think before you post such rubbish shouldnt you?

The particular shop was with an American chain with a UK regional headquarters, responsible for the Dublin store which I was building ...

OK, I may not have made this obvious in my previous post. However, the point still stands (about day-trippers) - how many people did it take to make Dublin-London the busiest air route in Europe? I've been to the UK 7 times and have never spent more that 2-3 days at a time.

Servings of humble pie now available with a topping of WD40.

Victor

Should this be moved to the "The Euro" board?

WhiteWashMan

humble pie?
sorry, i still havent seen any answers to any of my queries
ahh, bbc2.
excellent.
er, the program was what and what did it say?

and the storee wasnt actually going to be in england, it was going to be in ireland?

The particular shop was with an American chain with a UK regional headquarters, responsible for the Dublin store which I was building ...

um, in that sace why would you consider sterling.
in fact why would you even put it in this thread?
its about the euro in england.
i suppose if you are going to make incorrect statements i cant really argue can i?
as for day trippers, mostly business types.
hell, ive done it on several occasions (i am sick of heathrow!)
and to be honest everything is paid for
the fact still remains, now you go to england with sterling instead of punts, next month it will be instead of euros.
whats your point caller?

not that i care.
i live in england, so my pound is worth so much more than yours

Bluehair

Originally posted by WhiteWashMan
humble pie?
sorry, i still havent seen any answers to any of my queries

The Irish Times "Business this week" Friday Dec 14th

(btw tried unsuccessfully to find the online version but the following are some quotes from the article, if anyone wants I can fax the entire thing to them along with the humble-pie recipe )

"With only 18 days to go until e-day a growing number of British retailers are joining big players on the high street such as Marks & Spencers, Sainsbury and WHSmith in deciding it makes economic sense to accept the single currency when it becomes legal currency"

"This is nothing short of an economic revolution which amounts to introduction of the euro by stealth- and it now looks as if the new currency will operate as a kind of unofficial second currency"

"Prompted by a mixture of economic savvy and retail common-sense, the famous Knightsbridge store, Harrods, has been preparing for the Euro for two years"

"The electrical retailer, Dixons, will accept euro notes and coins in its 13 airport stores and in its main Oxford Street store in London"

"Sainsbury, the DIY group B&Q, Somerfield and Kwik Save supermarkets have all introduced trolleys with coin slots that accept euros"

"British Telecom is planning to convert thousands of telephone boxes so that they can take the single currency, and companies such as Unilever and Toyota are asking suppliers to invoice them in Euros"

billy the squid

I would have expected irish people to go to the likes of manchester and liverpool for the day to see football but then i could be wrong

Blitzkrieger

Originally posted by WhiteWashMan
er, the program was what and what did it say?

The program was Working Lunch on BBC2. They've been running a series of articles about the Euro. BlueHair has all the info. above

They're expecting some hotels to accept the Euro too, so you could go to England, get a room, go to the supermarket or the high street with your Euros. It makes sense cos otherwise they'd lose out to other countries. I wonder how many people know about this anyway.


This thread isn't on the Euro board cos it wasn't there at the time

WhiteWashMan

Originally posted by fcddunne
I would have expected irish people to go to the likes of manchester and liverpool for the day to see football but then i could be wrong

true actually. good point.
bluehair, thats more like it. its nice to see someone has some sense!

however,

deciding it makes economic sense to accept the single currency when it becomes legal currency"

is that legal currency in england or europe?
i presume it means europe, but that still doesnt mean its legal in england. bit confusing....
i suppose holiday places often accept different currencies, punts, dollars, sterling, deutch marks, it would certainly make sense for something similar.
howver, im mearly interested as ive heard nothing about it over here?
well, apart from the fact that tony blair is now trying to get england to join. but he will have to devalue sterling first. its too strong for the euro.

Bluehair

Originally posted by WhiteWashMan
howver, im mearly interested as ive heard nothing about it over here?
well, apart from the fact that tony blair is now trying to get england to join. but he will have to devalue sterling first. its too strong for the euro.

I find it ironic that we are getting more info here about Englands preperation for the Euro than *in* England. However perhaps thats predictable given the still largely anti-Euro sentiment there. Most English I'm spoken too don't really seem to care since "it doesn't concern me". Outside of industry rags there doesn't yet appear to be much about it in the English press.

The value of Sterling is a problem and it's going to be hard for the country to deal with. Joe Punter just sees that everything seems cheaper abroad and that apartment in Malaga is for nothing. However exporters are feeling the pinch and would kill for a devalued Sterling.

My prediction (for whats it's worth) is that by the time England is politically ready (3-4 years??) the Euro will have strengtened considerably V. Sterling (given the Euro is still v. undervalued) meaning no sudden shocks to the English currency will be needed.

{btw regarding the 'legal currency' aspect; As far as I'm aware it's technically 'legal currency' everywhere from the 1/1/02. As to whether or not it's 'acceptable tender for goods/services' is at the discretion of whoever is providing the goods or services. The fact that it's the offical currency of the 'single-currency' countries is neither here nor there. E.g. The dollar is accepted world-wide and is the unoffical currency of many many other countries (even Russia! ) It will take some time before the Euro becomes so prevalent but it likely will happen sooner rather than later.)

WhiteWashMan

Originally posted by Bluehair


I find it ironic that we are getting more info here about Englands preperation for the Euro than *in* England. However perhaps thats predictable given the still largely anti-Euro sentiment there. Most English I'm spoken too don't really seem to care since "it doesn't concern me". Outside of industry rags there doesn't yet appear to be much about it in the English press.

well to be honest, there isnt really much preperation for the euro, because it simple isnt legal tender here.
if a couple of shops want to accept it then i guess thats up to them, but it is only a few shops and not a countrywide thing.
until it there is a referendum then i guess it isnt really anything to concern joe public.

Originally posted by Bluehair
The value of Sterling is a problem and it's going to be hard for the country to deal with. Joe Punter just sees that everything seems cheaper abroad and that apartment in Malaga is for nothing. However exporters are feeling the pinch and would kill for a devalued Sterling.

true, but people still ike sterling.
it is an incredibly strong currency, it is doing well, and inflation is well below what was wanted.
a strong economy in a downturn. problem is if it goes into negative inflation and then we are in trouble
but you are right.

Originally posted by Bluehair


My prediction (for whats it's worth) is that by the time England is politically ready (3-4 years??) the Euro will have strengtened considerably V. Sterling (given the Euro is still v. undervalued) meaning no sudden shocks to the English currency will be needed.

ohh id give it 2 years to be honest.
if i knew what was going to happen to currency, i would be a dealer and not an IT field enginer and id get paid 10 times what i do now

Originally posted by Bluehair



{btw regarding the 'legal currency' aspect; As far as I'm aware it's technically 'legal currency' everywhere from the 1/1/02. As to whether or not it's 'acceptable tender for goods/services' is at the discretion of whoever is providing the goods or services. The fact that it's the offical currency of the 'single-currency' countries is neither here nor there. E.g. The dollar is accepted world-wide and is the unoffical currency of many many other countries (even Russia! ) It will take some time before the Euro becomes so prevalent but it likely will happen sooner rather than later.)

sorry, i meant legel tender, not legal currency.
you know what i meant.
pah!

Blitzkrieger

Originally posted by WhiteWashMan


but it is only a few shops and not a countrywide thing

Yes it is - that's the point. These are nationwide and international chains (HMV, Safeway, Virgin, etc.) that will accept the Euro, and more are expected to follow. Maybe you can't go into your local newsagent with it, but you can certainly go shopping.

It's also every English business that imports\exports to\from Europe. Working Lunch featured an English company that made the kiddie rides you see outside supermarkets. They export to the US, Ireland, Spain, etc., and have had to make their systems Euro compliant. They've also opened a Euro account to source parts in Euros, and make sales in Euros. They felt they would lose out if their customers couldn't directly compare their price with their competetors.

The UK is Ireland's biggest export market, as well as the biggest import market. There's a lot of English business who will have to deal with the Euro.

WhiteWashMan

hold on your switching from high street stores to international trade.
which is it going to be coz i doubt in international trade they will turn up with a fist full of euros will they?

oh and i can just see kiddie rides outside safeways for all the people who just happen to have euyros on them.
what is it, a foreigner only ride?
do you still think people wont change to sterling when travelling to england?

Dr. Loon

2 years ago all major companies dealt with the Euro in International trade, now that's not to say that if I was headin to England I'd take a rak of Euros with me. Obviously if you're travelling somewhere, you change to their currency, no matter what. Cos you're just settin yourself up for hassle otherwise.... but back to my point, if it actually is one. When I worked in Citibank 2 years ago, all we dealt with was euro transactions, including transactions to England and the States..... so international transactions, will generally begin with a euro amount, and possibly be converted along the way.


Actually... my point doesn't really make sense so fúck that.... just that 2 years ago International trade is dealt in euros!!! :)Sorry to waste your time

Blitzkrieger

Are you taking the piss or what?

The company in question is making all their machines Euro compliant, but of course only the ones for export will accept Euros. And just cos they have a Euro account doesn't mean they'll show up with a fist full of Euro. They'll put X amount of Euro in the account and use it to pay suppliers and recieve payments from customers.

Of course people will still get sterling when travelling to England, but the whole point of the Euro is that you don't have to change money when traveling. Making England a less tourist friendly place. It will also probably be easier for Euro countries to deal with other Euro countries rather than pay charges for exchanging currency all the time.

WhiteWashMan

Originally posted by Blitzkrieger
Are you taking the piss or what?

The company in question is making all their machines Euro compliant, but of course only the ones for export will accept Euros. And just cos they have a Euro account doesn't mean they'll show up with a fist full of Euro. They'll put X amount of Euro in the account and use it to pay suppliers and recieve payments from customers.

Of course people will still get sterling when travelling to England, but the whole point of the Euro is that you don't have to change money when traveling. Making England a less tourist friendly place. It will also probably be easier for Euro countries to deal with other Euro countries rather than pay charges for exchanging currency all the time.

HA!

when was the last time you paid charges for exchanging money?
i certainly dont!
you will find that big businesses dont pay in cash.
and once again, apart from football matches, who the bloody hell wants to go to england for the day.
god, it would be like going down the countryside or something.
i mean would you go to cork for the day?
i certainly bloody wouldnt.
what a dump!

Hobbes

when was the last time you paid charges for exchanging money?

Pray tell how you are able to change currency without getting charged for it?

I would be inclined to agree that people would be more happy to visit another european country if they don't have to change money, especially if their Euro will get them more in that country (even though it's supposed to be all the same).

you will find that big businesses dont pay in cash.

Now your just trolling. Actually he's right about the international trade and I recall the British businesses giving out that it would be unfair to them as all prices are now quoted in Euro's.