A client story is a record of a real transaction: the exposure the client carried, the instrument they used, the rate they secured and what it cost in sterling. This page collects ours. Each story sets out the position as the client faced it, the tools the desk used and the outcome measured against published market rates, including the occasions where holding a hedge cost slightly more than doing nothing would have. Medlock & Thames is a currency broker, so these are accounts of what happened rather than recommendations about what anyone else should do.
What do these stories have in common?
Every one of them starts in the same place: a known amount in a foreign currency, a date in the future, and no way to know where the rate will be when that date arrives. The client may be a business with euro costs every winter or a private buyer with one payment to make in dollars, but the shape of the problem does not change. Money is committed in one currency and held in another, and the gap between the two moves on its own. What differs is the size of the exposure, how often it repeats, and how much of it the client chooses to fix.
How does a business manage recurring currency costs?
A business with the same exposure every year is really managing a budget rather than a single payment. Warren Smith Ski Academy runs courses in Cervinia in Italy and in Verbier in Switzerland, and sells most of them to clients in the UK, so it earns in pounds and spends in euros and Swiss francs. Through the volatility of 2022 the academy used forward contracts to fix the euro side of a season in advance and standing market orders to work the Swiss franc side. Read the full account in our Warren Smith Ski Academy client story.
As a business operating within mainland Europe and the UK, the volatility within the currency markets over the past 5 years has had a big impact on our bottom line. The team at Medlock & Thames is the same team we have used throughout this period and their hedging products, combined with competitive exchange rates, has enabled us to minimise our risk during these turbulent times. Warren, Founder, Warren Smith Ski Academy.
How does a private client handle a single large purchase?
A private buyer usually gets one attempt. There is a single sum, a completion date that is only partly in their control, and no second transaction to average the rate out across. In September 2024 a client buying a property in Florida fixed three quarters of the purchase price on a forward contract and left the balance to settle at spot nearer to closing. Sterling fell more than eight per cent against the dollar in the four months that followed. Read what that was worth, and what the unhedged quarter cost, in our Florida property client story.
I highly recommend Medlock & Thames brokerage services because they were able to wrap logic around what could be a very emotional reaction to a very large currency exchange decision. My dealer, Chris', understanding of external influences, taking time to understand my needs and ultimately their ability to formulate an FX strategy fitting to my situation demonstrates that Medlock & Thames is the best partner you could have. Caroline, private client.
What instruments appear in these stories?
Three tools do most of the work. A spot transaction converts money at today's rate for settlement within a day or two. A forward contract fixes today's rate for a payment on a future date, usually up to two years ahead, in return for a deposit, with the balance due when the contract matures. A market order is a standing instruction left with the desk to convert automatically if the market reaches a level the client has specified, which means the client does not have to watch the screen. We compare the first two in detail in forward contracts and currency options, and walk through the mechanics with a worked example in how a forward contract works.
How much difference does the exchange rate actually make?
Enough to matter on any sum with a comma in it. Using the euro reference rates published daily by the European Central Bank, sterling bought 1.1964 euros on 28 July 2022 and 1.1078 euros on 28 September 2022, a fall of about 7.4% in nine weeks. Against the dollar, the pound ranged from 1.2316 on 22 April 2024 to 1.3401 on 30 September 2024, a spread of about 8.8% inside a single year. On a 500,000 pound purchase, 7% is 35,000 pounds. Neither move was forecast by the desk or by anyone else, which is the point: the instruments in these stories exist because the direction is unknowable, not because it is predictable.
Do these stories describe advice?
No, and the distinction matters. Medlock & Thames is a currency broker. The desk explains how each instrument works, quotes a live rate and carries out the transaction through FCA authorised partners, but it does not give regulated financial advice, does not recommend a course of action and does not forecast the market. In every story below, the decision on how much to fix and when belonged to the client. If you want the detail on how the money itself is handled, see how we are regulated and how your money is protected.
According to Medlock & Thames
In our experience the clients who look back on a transaction most comfortably are rarely the ones who caught the best rate. They are the ones who decided in advance how much of the exposure they were willing to leave open, and then stopped watching. The pattern we see repeatedly on the desk is that the unhedged portion is what people remember, in either direction, which is a good argument for choosing that proportion deliberately rather than arriving at it by default. Both stories on this page were structured that way, and in one of them the portion left open moved against the client. We have published that figure alongside the rest rather than leaving it out.
Frequently asked questions
Are these real clients?
Yes. Both stories are published with the client's permission and the quotations are their own words. The business is named because its founder agreed to be. The private client is identified by first name only.
Where do the market rates in these stories come from?
Daily reference rates published by the European Central Bank, which are free to check against. Where a contract rate is described it is the rate agreed between the client and the desk on the day, and forward rates differ slightly from spot because of the interest rate gap between the two currencies rather than any view on where the market is heading.
Would I get the same result?
Not necessarily. These are accounts of individual transactions in specific market conditions and are not indicative of all customers. Rates, timing and outcomes vary, and a hedge that protected one client would have cost another. Results may vary and clients proceed at their own risk.
Will the desk tell me when to fix a rate?
No. We explain how the options work, quote live and execute, but the timing decision is the client's. We do not provide regulated advice or forecast the market.
Can my own transaction become a client story?
Only with your explicit permission, and only in the form you approve. Many clients prefer to stay anonymous, which is why some of our stories carry a first name or a sector description rather than a company name. If you would rather not appear at all, that is the default. You can talk to the desk through our contact page.
Related articles
Read the two stories in full: Warren Smith Ski Academy for a business hedging recurring euro and Swiss franc costs, and buying a Florida property for a private client fixing a single large payment. For the mechanics behind them, see FX hedging for finance directors and buying property abroad. To see how the desk works, visit corporate currency, personal currency and where apps fall short.
Testimonials and case studies presented here may not be indicative of all customers. Results may vary, and customers agree to proceed at their own risk. Medlock & Thames is a currency broker and does not provide regulated financial advice.
