'Mayfair means money': A walk through the Gulf elite's favourite part of London

'Mayfair means money': A walk through the Gulf elite's favourite part of London Submitted by Oscar Rickett on Fri, 08/14/2026 - 13:01 In Mayfair, wealthy tourists from the UAE, Kuwait, Bahrain and elsewhere in the Gulf visit restaurants and department stores as London bakes in the heat Selfridges department store in central London is pictured in 2022 (AFP) Off It is 10am on Thursday, but the temperature on the streets of central London is already pushing beyond 30C, in what is set to be the UK ’s hottest summer on record. Outside Oxford Street’s Selfridges, the sun beats down on the pavement, a homeless man asks for change and a discarded free newspaper tells of yet more wildfires across the country. Inside, the air conditioning runs smoothly and a concession selling Arabic coffee promotes Saudi Arabia , whose Public Investment Fund now owns 40 percent of the famous department store.