After plunging to a record low against the US dollar overnight, sterling recovered some of its losses on Monday, but still remained close to a historic lows. Its latest tribulations follow a long decline in value against a broad basket of currencies that began in mid-2015.
The pound's weakening creates winners and losers for businesses. For exporters, including some manufacturers, the makers of world-famous products such as Scotch whisky and attractions favoured by foreign tourists, a weaker pound can be a boon.
The UK has a trade deficit, importing many of the products and commodities used by businesses. The devalued pound means that companies are faced with higher input costs, which could add to the UK's inflationary problems.
The reaction to a falling pound is dependent on which side of the dividing line they fall.
Oakham Ales was one of the first UK brewers to source hops from America, seeking bolder, punchier flavours.
It was a wise decision to catch the zeitgeist as consumer tastes changed. Citra is now a common ingredient in the mash tuns of Britain's craft brewers and Oakham's own award-winning Citra ale is sold in supermarkets such as Tesco and Morrisons.
The success story is being hampered by the fall in sterling's value.
It is a proprietary hop, which means we have to buy direct from one of the big American hop companies, said Nick Jones, Oakham spokesman. There is no option on that, we have to buy in dollars, so pound plunging is a big problem for us.
We were already expecting US hop prices to go up because production is energy heavy. We have got this on top of it. Oakham was buying about 24 tonnes of Citra a year before the epidemic, so it stands to take a big hit from sterling's weakness.
Even if the Bank of England is trying to protect the pound, that is going to affect consumer spending, Jones said. We have absorbed the costs and the point might be coming where we can't absorb any more.
We won't be the only brewer who would say that. It is hugely challenging. Having survived Covid and built ourselves back up, it's a major concern to be confronted with this on top of energy costs. It is a different story for businesses whose exports are more valuable than their imports. Brandauer, a metal stamping company, turned 160 years old in March, sends products such as razor blades and components for electrical devices like kettles all over the world.
At the minute, it's upside for us, said Rowan Crozier, Brandauer's chief executive. It is a good opportunity for us at the moment. Brandauer has to deal with a rising cost of imports from China paid for mainly in US dollars and Europe paid in euros, but on balance it benefits Crozier s business.
The dollar-pound, with where it is, makes it look cheaper, he said. The costs of paying its 69 employees and running the factory are the larger part of the cost of Brandauer's products than imported commodities.
Crozier is aware of the negative consequences of a weak pound. If the currency stays near historically low levels, it would probably cause increased inflation in the UK, which would in turn cause the Bank of England to raise interest rates faster than otherwise, making borrowing more expensive.
Exports are a fundamental part of Brandauer's business. It won a Queen s Award for international trade in 2019 and it monitors exchange rates all the time. It tries to protect against foreign exchange moves by keeping separate accounts in sterling, dollars and euro, while spreading its currency risk by using derivatives from its bank.