A BRITISH EXPAT’S VIEW

Adam Ramjean, investor relations manager at Pernod Ricard: “Before moving to Paris, I worked for Pernod Ricard UK, a French wine and spirit company based in Chiswick. Working for the same multinational has certainly made my transition easier. The environment is a little more formal in Paris and hours can be longer, but there is a much better work-life balance.

“The most obvious challenge, and one I’m yet to overcome fully, is the language. You can easily get by with only a few phrases but if you really want to fit in, you need to learn French.

“Paperwork and payments were a bit of a learning curve. Not every shop accepts cards, and cheques are still a valid form of payment in a lot of places. Making bank payments aren’t as straightforward as sort code/ account number – you need to provide a printed out ‘RIB’, which feels archaic.

“One thing I never expected is how much cleaner and greener London feels. Paris has some great parks – I particularly like Parc des Buttes-Chaumont – but London has a lot more.

“Overall, I don’t think the difference between London and Paris is particularly significant. The same trends are present in most Western cities and defining how their cultures are developing. You have the same backdrop of increasingly unattainable house prices, student debt, austerity and the growth of digital. All of these shared factors are bringing us closer together.”