Likewise, the yen has risen 6% against the Australia dollar and 4.4% against the British pound sterling.
The strong sterling means British buyers are crossing the channel in increasing numbers, Continental brokers say.
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Even HSBC, a British bank with a sterling reputation, ingrained prudence and a history of astute acquisitions has stumbled in recent years when entering markets where unfamiliarity prevented it from bringing these traits to bear.
Meanwhile, the strength of sterling has made British car exports less attractive to overseas buyers, trimming manufacturers' slender profits still further.
Cheaper sterling should also help British producers win back market share at home from imports.
Since 1998 Schwab has opened more than 130, 000 online accounts in the U.K. British investors can trade in pound sterling or dollar accounts.
So for some British-based global companies, a fall in sterling isn't the boon it is cut out to be.
For a start, sterling at its trough was undervalued: British companies could therefore take much of its rise in their stride.
But the debate over British membership of the euro is probably the biggest single influence on sterling's value.
Sterling's slide has been greeted with dismay by British tourists, accustomed to the heft a strong pound gave their wallets when holidaying abroad.
ECONOMIST: The pound��s plunge is hurting, but pain is part of the remedy
This year, the gallery will present the UK premier of a new performance piece by artist Linder Sterling, which will include collaborations with Northern Ballet, British fashion designer Pam Hogg, and musician Stuart McCallum.
Advocates of British membership of the euro found it difficult to make their case while sterling was thriving.
ECONOMIST: The pound��s plunge is hurting, but pain is part of the remedy
But the British market is crowded and swamped with imports made cheaper by the strength of sterling so to have any sustainable future Scotland's comparatively tiny meat industry must aim for luxury markets around the world.
But sterling was having a bad week already (unless you're a British exporter, that is).
As the chart below shows, since 1993, returns on British shares have been higher than Germany's and snuck past America's, helped by sterling's strong appreciation against the dollar and healthy dividends for shareholders.
But the hefty depreciation of around a quarter in sterling's trade-weighted value since mid-2007 will still bolster the economy by making British producers of tradable goods and services more competitive both in foreign markets and at home.
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