London: au revoir, London

The French, Italians and Germans who have thronged to London’s banks and bars for the past decade may look back on December 15, 2008 as the day that their love affair with “la vie anglaise” died. Sterling’s slide to as little as 90 pence against the euro had many of them thinking it may be time to go home. London’s attractions during the boom years were manifold. It was the world’s leading financial centre offering the greatest opportunities and financial rewards. What’s more, those rewards wer...