Surely Starbucks must have reached their elastic limit in London ? I said flippantly to someone yesterday as we were sat - guess where - that there has to be at least one Starbucks for every 1o Londoners.

That was flippancy; the dawning fact is that we might not actually be that far from seeing that ratio met. In a rough mile circumference from where I live there are, amazingly...wait for it...twenty ! Three just in Notting Hill Gate.

It's Hammersmith Mall where the true pressure is. They're planning to open a new store less than fifty yards from one that's been bashing out lattes and espressos for years. How does this work? How will this work? It'll be like having two carnivorous fish in a goldfish bowl, they'll end up cannibalising each other's market, after all there's only so much passing footfall traffic to draw in through the doors.