The weakness of the pound is fuelling a boom in “nip and tuck tourism” to London, according to a leading Harley Street surgeon.
Dr Julian De Silva said he had seen a sudden rise in the number of patients from as far afield as Australia making appointments for procedures.
He said the collapse in the value of sterling since the EU referendum meant that bills in the capital can be thousands of pounds less than in Beverly Hills or New York.
For example, a complex “nose job” — officially known as a rhinoplasty — can cost between $20,000 and $50,000 (£16,000 and £40,000) in the US but would be £10,000 to £15,000 in London.
The pound has lost about 17 per cent of its value since the referendum and has been pushed close to two-year lows in recent weeks by the increasing risk of a no-deal Brexit in the autumn.
Dr De Silva, who runs the Centre for Advanced Facial Cosmetic and Plastic Surgery, said that half of his patients were now from abroad.
Another major factor has been the rise in the number of affluent patients from “newly wealthy” countries in Asia and the Middle East.
He said: “They see London as a safe place to undertake surgery. The regulations in the UK fill massive folders and the quality in the UK is very different.”
