Two former London brokers in Luxembourg have hit on an old-fashioned way to hedge against Brexit.

Briton Mark Hollis, 50, and his Irish business partner John Heffernan, 52, set up a grocery store, offering financiers fleeing the City a steady supply of UK staples such as Yorkshire Tea and Marmite.

The pair say “Home from Home,” which also sells expat favourites such as Heinz baked beans and Nestle chocolate milkshake mix, is already bustling ahead of the hordes of financiers expected to swap London for new lives in the Grand Duchy.

“We’ve been open a few weeks and we’ve had hundreds of people come through the door,” said Hollis, who moved from London with his wife in 1997.

In the race to attract London business after Brexit, Luxembourg has already become the nation of choice for several insurers, funds and banks. Insurance giant American International Group Inc., US insurer FM Global, RSA Insurance Group and Lloyd’s of London insurer Hiscox, as well as private equity firm Blackstone and asset managers such as M&G Investments, all have chosen Luxembourg as their new EU hub. JPMorgan also plans to move some London-based bankers to Luxembourg.

While Hollis describes Brexit as “a joke,” he admits that “potentially, it does bring us more clients.”

“There are some financial companies, I think it’s over 20 now, that said they are going to relocate to Luxembourg. It’s mainly funds and insurance companies,” he said. “Coming from the finance industry myself, I know that a lot of banks have contingency plans in place,” said Hollis, who worked half his life as a broker, the last 16 years for Tradition.

Their shop is in the busy commuter town of Strassen, close to Luxembourg City, the nation’s capital. It served its first customers just before Halloween and with Christmas around the corner, its owners say the shop is paying its way. Traditional English sausages, bacon and crumpets are among the biggest hits.

​Hollis and Heffernan are thankful for the financial backing of the Luxembourg government as well as their parents. They scraped together around 40,000 euros ($47,100) of their own money to invest in the shop and got another 38,000 euros from the state, which had to approve their project first.

Luxembourg is the biggest fund market in Europe, and the second-biggest in the world after the US Capital markets, wealth management as well as private banking and cross-border insurance and re-insurance remain some of the main specialties of Luxembourg’s financial center. It’s also the base for several EU institutions, including the EU’s top courts, the European Investment Bank and the European Stability Mechanism.

Still, the country has a reputation as a place people either love or hate — rather like Unilever’s sticky brown Marmite that some, but not all, Brits like to spread on their toast.

Hollis and Heffernan, who have piled their shelves with the stuff, have both learned to embrace life in the Grand Duchy and they expect enough like-minded financial workers to make the switch.

Heffernan, who worked as a foreign-exchange broker with Tullet Prebon before switching careers, said moving to Luxembourg from London in 2002 was “the best move I ever made.”

His three children went through the local school system and are finishing high school in one of several new free-of-charge English-speaking local schools that have popped up around the city over the last year.

On top of Luxembourg’s multiculturalism, the use of the English language has become more common. While French was the dominant language until not long ago, English can these days be heard almost as much in the country’s city center, or even in its EU institutions.

Hollis and his family live in the town of Biwer, close to the German border, “because close to the city was too expensive.” While living further out has beautiful countryside all around, it also means a longer commute to work on increasingly clogged roads.

Business news: In pictures Show all 13 1 /13 Business news: In pictures Business news: In pictures Flybe collapses Airline Flybe has collapsed. All future flights on the Exeter-based airline have been cancelled – leaving more than 2,300 staff facing an uncertain future, and wrecking the travel plans of hundreds of thousands of passengers. The chief executive, Mark Anderson, said: “Europe’s largest independent regional airline has been unable to overcome significant funding challenges to its business. AFP via Getty Business news: In pictures Future product placement will be 'tailored to individual viewers' Marketing executives say that product placement in films and televison shows on streaming services such as Netflix may be tailored to individuals in future. For instance, if data shows that a viewer is a fan of pepsi, a billboard in the background of a shot would host an advert for pepsi, while for a viewer known to have different tastes it could be for Coca-Cola Paramount Business news: In pictures Corbyn wishes Amazon a happy birthday In a card sent to Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos on the company's 25th birthday, Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn writes: "You owe the British people millions in taxes that pay for the public services that we all rely on. Please pay your fair share" Business news: In pictures No deal, no tariffs The government has announced that it would slash almost all tariffs in the event of a no-deal Brexit. Notable exceptions include cars and meat, which will see tariffs in place to protect British farmers Getty Business news: In pictures Fingerprint payment NatWest is trialling a new bank card that will allow people to touch their hand to the card when paying rather than typing in a PIN number. The card will work by recognising the user's fingerprint NatWest/PA Wire Business news: In pictures Mahabis bust High-end slipper retailer Mahabis has gone into administration. 2 Jan 2019 Mahabis Business news: In pictures Costa Cola Coca-Cola has paid £3.9bn for Costa Coffee. A cafe chain is a new venture for the global soft drinks giant PA Business news: In pictures RIP Payday Loans A funeral procession for payday loans was held in London on September 2. The future of pay day lenders is in doubt after Wonga, Britain's biggest, went into administration on August 30 PA Business news: In pictures Musk irks investors and directors Elon Musk has concluded that Tesla will remain public. Investors and company directors were angry at Musk for tweeting unexpectedly that he was considering taking Tesla private and share prices had taken a tumble in the following weeks Getty Business news: In pictures Jaguar warning Iconic British car maker Jaguar Land Rover warned on July 5, 2018 that a "bad" Brexit deal could jeopardise planned investment of more than $100 billion, upping corporate pressure as the government heads into crucial talks AFP/Getty Business news: In pictures Spotif-IPO Spotify traded publically for the first time on the New York Stock Exchange on Tuesday. However, the company isn't issuing shares, but rather, shares held by Spotify's private investors will be sold AFP/Getty Business news: In pictures French blue passports The deadline to award a contract to make blue British passports after Brexit has been extended by two weeks following a request by bidder De La Rue. The move comes after anger at the announcement British passports would be produced by Franco-Dutch firm Gemalto when De La Rue’s contract ends in July. The British firm said Gemalto was chosen only because it undercut the competition, but the UK company also admitted that it was not the cheapest choice in the tendering process. Business news: In pictures Beast from the east economic impact The Beast from the East wiped £4m off of Flybe’s revenues due to flight cancellations, airport closures and delays, according to the budget airline’s estimates. Flybe said it cancelled 994 flights in the three months to 31 March, compared to 372 in the same period last year.

Besides stocking up on Christmas puddings and crackers (nearly as complicated to explain as cricket and definitely not something you smear with Stilton cheese), the duo is already busy planning a tea shop where families can come for cakes, crumpets and scones.

The UK and the EU struck a deal to unlock divorce negotiations in the early hours of Friday after months of stalemate.

Brexit may be good for his business, but Hollis finds it hard to hide his disdain for those who wanted to leave — including all of his family back home.

“I think it’s completely the wrong decision for the UK to have taken,” he said. “They voted for it, so they have to get on with it.”