5 of the most useful shops in London

Not the biggest shop, but they have certainly found a gap in the market for retailing beautifully well-designed objects that have utility in the home and also work perfectly as gifts. Items for sale include crafted chopping boards, oven gloves, soaps, tea towels, brushes, ceramics and stationery items.

One of the first shops to open in the regenerating Redchurch Street, this store sells timeless functional products for everyday life, sourced from specialist makers around the world. Their goods are a range of hardware household items, celebrating simple utility in design.

Conveniently located in an elegant glass-fronted store wedged between a railway bridge and Borough Market, the Cook Shop is a great place to source any kitchen or tableware essentials. Laden with produce from the Market, the aspirant home chef or foodie will find a superb range of high-quality and beautifully designed pieces, from the humble rolling pin or vegetable peeler to luxurious copper saucepan sets and artisan crafted noodle bowls. Their range of specialist chefs’ knives, both European and Japanese, is excellent.

This ironmongery shop with its historic shopfront has been a fixture in the heart of Soho since 1925. It’s packed to the rafters with thousands of densely wellorganised products. It is heartening to know that even in rapidly modernising Soho there is still somewhere to buy essentials.

This upmarket little shop, founded in 2008, produces and sells a large range of handcrafted designer umbrellas in modern yet classic fashions. They also sell essential gentleman’s accessories and have recently started a small line of outerwear and raincoats. Precise, smart and a celebration of a particularly British style.