Cheapest way to transfer money abroad - SEPA

CYPER

What is the cheapest way to transfer £5000 from a UK current account to a current or savings account in euro in another European country.

From my initial research I found that it is better to do the conversion here and send the money in euros from here. SEPA is an option, but I'm yet to find the exchange rates of each bank (for example I phoned Nationwide and was told they can only send GBP abroad)
Another option is to exchange the money at ICE Waterloo which will give me 5,625.00 euros at the current rate and then I can take them abroad by myself and deposit them into the euro account.

What are your thoughts on this matter?

LeifGR

With that amount of money to be transferred, you're much better off going to a dedicated forex transfer outfit like UKForex -- you'll get a much better rate from them than from the high street banks. I've used UKForex and found their service levels very good.

CYPER

I just called Metro Bank and was told they don't offer the SEPA transfer, but just the regular SWIFT one.
When I asked for the exchange rate I was quoted 1.157, which sounds too good to be true. I asked the lady to verify that and she said that's the correct rate. She also mentioned it is a rate they get from Mastercard.

Is this possible?

missile

There are zero fees to transfer from any UK bank to my Barclays.es account and I get business rate :j