Why I love London - An Explanation

I have been living in the UK now for 10 years altogether, and it was just the other morning, as I came up from Oxford street early in the morning and looked at all the British flags they have up and down Regent/Oxford streets at the moment, that I realised again how much I enjoy living here. It gave me a real sense of pride.

I then thought about the Diamond Jubilee, of course the Olympics, then thought about Euro 2012, Wimbledon, the summer (I know) and how fabulous it is to be in the UK at this time. But then I thought even more and remembered back to a speech I made at the Cafe Society awards two weeks ago about how proud I am to be the owner of a hospitality business, in a city that is now known as one of the great food capitals of the world.

I also thought about our daughter Layla, and all the opportunities that she is already having by living here, and all the opportunities she will have in her future. She has already been to Spain, France and Italy on holidays and she is only just two!

Then I thought about a show we watched the other night. A three part documentary, it showed life in the three main markets of London, fish at Billingsgate, meat at Smithfields and vegetables at New Spitalfields. A kurdish man at Spitalfields spoke about how he came to London and was able to build himself up to be a very successful operator, because of the opportunities London provided and because he has worked hard to take advantage of those opportunities.

London is a truly wonderful place, my wife and I really love living here. I truly hope that the UK this summer will show the world how great it is, through its tourism, its hospitality, it sporting events and its sporting success, and that people will continue to see the UK as a great land of opportunity where almost anything is possible if you work hard and have passion.

I’m really proud to live here, even though my parents and some life long friends are back in Australia. I think it’s a fabulous place, a real land of opportunity and I hope that with all the hard work that a lot of people are doing, it will continue to be so.

Peter Dore-Smith
Director
Kaffeine Ltd
66 Great Titchfield st.
15 Eastcastle st.