Tks for comments so far, I will register with 5/6 and then see whos the best on the day, from what I've gathered so far just because crowd A are cheapest one day does not mean they will be cheapest on the day of transaction
all brokers will pretty much offer the same service, just check where the current spot rate is (bbc news online) and where they are quoting you work out the difference and that is how much money they are taking from the deal.
remember brokers and banks will try to increase the spread if they can to increase there commission so calling 5 companies is normally a waste of time building a relationship with one broker and getting them to call you when you want to trade is an option also agreeing a spread upfront will save you time. interchangefx are also worth speaking to.
I find Anglo Irish consistently good, you watch the market and tell the dealer what to buy at, then they will buy the currency when it hits your figure, deduct it fom your dealing account, and do the transfer to whatever foreign account you have advised them to credit. Hassle free, and you don't have to keep after them.
Avoid the high street banks for foreign currency at all costs, it can cost you thousands of euro of unnecessary expense.
DO you have to haggle on the spread with the likes of moneycorp and hifx.
For example if the spot rate was 1 euro equals 66p and one was transferring 100k sterling to euros,how much would the company take out of this transaction.
If the company said they`d take 00.2p per euro transferred ,that would be about 300 £.
Or do they have a set take for themselves and no haggle.
Advice appreciated