For a few months this summer, parts of Britain’s billionaire economy were back to business-as-usual.
Amid scorching heat in the Middle East, London once again became an outpost for the Gulf elite, continuing an annual custom that helps project their influence in the West and allows an escape to cooler climes. The ruler of Dubai was seen at Harrods, other Middle East royals flocked to equestrian events, while the head of Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund attended football matches.
They were joined by a well-heeled cast of ministers and tycoons who thronged to the city, filling up some its most exclusive properties, restaurants and private clubs that have suffered in the fallout from the UK recently hiking taxes on its wealthy elite.
In all, visitors to Britain from the United Arab Emirates and other Gulf Cooperation Council territories such as Saudi Arabia and Kuwait are expected to spend a total £3.5 billion ($4.7 billion), a rise of 27% on the previous year, according to the nation’s tourism agency.
The summer influx of Middle East money to the UK – traditionally a global leader in luring the world’s rich — offers respite from the turmoil stemming from the end of a preferential tax regime for wealthy residents hailing from abroad, known as non-domiciled individuals.
In March 2024, the then-Conservative government proposed ending the system that allowed non-doms to avoid UK taxes on their overseas earnings for as long as 15 years, replacing it with a shorter timeframe. Labour mirrored that policy after winning the UK general election last year, but Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves went a step further and eliminated inheritance tax breaks on non-doms’ overseas assets, causing many of them to leave or consider relocating.
Keir Starmer’s government is betting that the changes will bring about £33 billion in extra levies over coming years, but think tanks are contesting the figures, warning on the threat to jobs and economic growth.
Billionaires including Checkout.com founder Guillaume Pousaz and Egypt’s second-richest man Nassef Sawiris are among those recently exiting the UK.
As they only usually visit Britain for part of the year, the Middle East’s wealthy elite are typically avoiding any major exposure to these changes.
Still, those staying in Britain throughout the summer months need to remain wary of the nation’s complex rules on testing tax residency, with some curbing that risk by taking short trips to nearby nations such as Italy, one of the biggest winners from Britain’s wealth chaos.
“I have a significant number of clients who are now in the UK,” said Piers Master, a London-based partner at law firm Charles Russell Speechlys who focuses on dealing with ultra-wealthy individuals and families from the Middle East. “They come as early as May and leave as late as September.”
Compared to other UK tourists, Middle East visitors typically stay longer and live more lavishly: in 2024, they were the only group to surpass spending £2,000 on average per trip, based on VisitBritain data released last month. Europeans and US tourists spend more in total, due to the higher numbers of visitors from those places.
The UK’s other Middle East visitors include Sultan Al Jaber, one of the Gulf’s most powerful figures, who stood in Berkeley Square to open a branch of First Abu Dhabi Bank as temperatures crossed 45C (113F) in the UAE.
Ali Al Ali, a Dubai horse-racing executive, donned a coat and tails, a pink waistcoat and sunglasses in June to attend Royal Ascot, one of Britain’s most prestigious equestrian events. At the same gathering, a Saudi prince appeared in the lead royal carriage alongside King Charles and Queen Camilla.
A son of Qatar’s former emir, Sheikh Jassim bin Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani, and Dubai’s crown prince, Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed, also chatted in the stands of another equestrian event in London last month that showcased purebred Arabian horses.
Abu Dhabi’s body-building politician Sheikh Abdulla bin Mohammed Al Hamed flew in for London Tech Week in June before later rubbing shoulders with members of the UK’s creative industry and posting about it on social media. That group included Jared Harris, the British actor who played King George VI in Netflix’s acclaimed TV series “The Crown.”
Further signs of wealthy Arabs holidaying in the UK summer can be seen in the import of Lamborghinis, Ferraris and other luxury cars as part of London’s “Supercar Season.”
In May, car imports from the UAE to the UK were ten times bigger than the previous month, according to data compiled by Bloomberg from official trade statistics. The largest monthly total in at least five years arrived in June.
The following month, a blue-and-white Bugatti supercar with UAE license plates was a center piece for Dubai real estate developer Binghatti opening a premises in London’s glitzy Knightsbridge district, with Hollywood actor Terry Crews helping to draw a crowd at the red-carpeted event.
Middle East wealth is also showcased in British real estate.
Along with Americans, Middle Eastern buyers are now the biggest force in London’s super-prime real estate market. Families typically from the UAE, Qatar and Saudi Arabia are seeking large residences in the £25 million to £150 million range, according to broker Beauchamp Estates.
Some of those who have acquired London homes recently are among the region’s most powerful. UAE President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan bought a mansion in late 2023 in Chelsea, one of London’s most expensive home deals in recent years. A Qatari royal also bought a Grade II-listed mansion two years ago nestled between Hyde Park and Berkeley Square for £39 million. The seller: Qatari Prime Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani.
Trevor Abrahmsohn, a property broker whose firm Glentree sells luxury London homes, said about a third of inquiries he’s recently received for a mega-mansion on the market near Regent’s Park came from Middle Easterners. He described its surrounding area in the summer as a “little Arabia.”
The Middle East’s elite “have been massive players for many years” in the UK prime real estate market, Abrahmsohn said. “And that won’t change regardless of the tax regime.”
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