Sponsored Content
Once Jennifer moved from Birmingham to the capital, she felt she would call London home for the rest of her life. 42 years of age with a daughter in her early teens, Jennifer was happy.
She loved her flat in the trendy South London Dulwich area. She was pleased with the school her daughter Charlotte attended. But most of all, she loved her job. Over the space of 10 years, Jennifer had managed to work up the Public Relations arm of a global financial services company.
A couple of months earlier, she had gone for the role of Head of PR in London. She didn’t get it. Instead, the company hired externally. Heartbroken, Jennifer felt unfairly treated. She had the right experience, ideas and attitude for the role.
But still, she felt she couldn’t complain too much. After all, the role she was in was fulfilling, and paid her more than enough to have an enjoyable life. In the years she’d been at the firm, Jennifer had managed to buy her flat outright, and take her daughter, Charlotte, on a couple of nice holidays a year.
Then one day, an email was sent around her team. It was a notice of a new position opening in Lisbon. It was the same role she went for in London, but instead it was looking after public relations for the European arm of the company.
Jennifer applied, thinking she wouldn’t get it — she just thought it would be good experience. Lo and behold, after three interviews and a chat to the Directors, the job offer was hers.
It took some time to make a decision. Jennifer knew that she’d have to uproot Charlotte’s entire life. She had a lot of friends at her school, and it’s tough being a fourteen-year-old anyway — let alone relocating internationally.
But after spotting a beautiful three-bed apartment in the Alfama neighbourhood and speaking with some international schools, Jennifer felt reassured. She spoke to Charlotte, explained the reasons for the move, and asked her if she would be willing to relocate.
To Jennifer’s delight, Charlotte was even more excited than she was.
It was decided. Jennifer accepted the job offer. She had two and a half months to get organised. Her company was paying for flights and hotel once she got there. Still, she wanted to put an offer down on the apartment she saw.
Jennifer put the Dulwich flat up for sale, and after a heavy influx of offers, she sold it to a couple in their early thirties for just under £500,000. With this, her savings and some inheritance money, she had enough to buy the Lisbon apartment outright and have a decent chunk left over.
Now the question was how to move her funds from pounds into euros. Bear in mind, this was towards the end of 2019. The UK government were having continuous heated debates with the European Union over the Brexit agreement.
The pound-to-euro exchange rate was anything but stable. Every time a negative headline regarding Brexit hit the news, the pound would wobble.
When it came to buying the Lisbon property, Jennifer didn’t just need a strong exchange rate. She needed some level of certainty. There was a gap in time between her agreeing the price of the Lisbon property and actually paying for it.
If the pound-to-euro rate were to go against her favour in this time, then she would end up having to pay more than she originally agreed.
Jennifer asked her colleague, who had also worked abroad, if she had used any good foreign exchange brokers. Her colleague couldn’t remember the one she used, but she did know that her husband, who had his own construction business, was using one called Privalgo for corporate solutions.
Jennifer gave Privalgo a call and was happy to hear they took on individual clients too. She spoke to an amiable gentleman called Louis.
Over the phone, Jennifer discussed her requirements. She explained how she was in the process of buying an apartment, and how she was worried about what was going to happen with the exchange rates.
Louis listened and walked Jennifer through what Privalgo could do for her. He explained how Privalgo offers solutions that would enable her to lock in a favourable rate of exchange for a specific timeframe.
This meant that she could use the same strong exchange rate for the entire duration of the property purchase. The price that she agreed for the house would be the same as the price she would end up paying.
With the combination of leading exchange rates and the protection from market movement, Jennifer not only saved money on her currency exchange, but she was also able relax while she did it.
She could rest easy in the fact that whatever happened with the Brexit agreement, wherever the exchange rates went, her funds would stay stable.
With the stress of international relocation, that level of peace of mind is priceless.
We’re Privalgo — specialists in foreign exchange. We are authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) as an Electronic Money Institution.
Through leading exchange rates and innovative solutions, we help Brits save money and time when they move to Portugal. Get in touch today to see how we can help you build a rewarding foreign exchange strategy.
