Pawnbrokers report profit rises

The credit crunch is hurting people across Britain, but not - it seems - pawnbrokers. For their industry it's providing a welcome boost to business as people unable to get credit cards and bank loans find other ways of making ends meet. Read more

Pawn again

Most loans these days are made against jewellery – with nearly 90 per cent of customers repaying their loans – and while pawnbrokers still cater for a strong customer base of people looking for short-term loans of around £120 Read more

Pawn shops booming in the credit crunch

The reason is that if they need money quickly because of cashflow issues or want to invest in expansion, a bank will want to see past performance and may well insist on a minimum of a two-year or three-year term with charges for early settlement. A pawnbroker will allow redemption at any time and it may well be a quicker, more convenient and less expensive option. Read more

Pawnbroking goes high-end

As banks tighten up their lending criteria, footballers are pledging Rolexes and families are handing over heirlooms in exchange for a loan. Christina McLoughlin reportsRead more

Don't pay through the nose for quick cash

A fifth of adults would struggle to lay their hands on £100, while a third would have to dip into savings to cover household emergencies. This might explain why thousands of households are turning to expensive short-term loans in an attempt to keep up with debt repayments and pay bills.  Read more

Parents pawn Aston Martins and Rolexes to pay their school fees (Financial Times)

Wealthy professional people are increasingly turning to pawn-brokers for help in tackling short-term cashflow crises, with Aston Martins and Rolexes being offered as collateral to pay for holidays and even school fees. Read more

Parents pawn Aston Martins and Rolexes to pay school fees (Telegraph)

Rich professionals are using their valuable assets as a returnable deposit, or 'pledge', to secure a short-term, no-questions-asked loan.Read more.

Going for broking

Pawnbroking is now a heavily regulated and useful service. There has been a massive expansion in the last 20 years. Customers are clearly happy with our service. Some of them use us 10 or 15 times a year. Read more

Pawn shops thrive as credit tightens

Many people are surprised to find that pawnbrokers still exist, let alone thrive, in 21st Century Britain.

And with banks and credit card firms becoming more choosy about whom they lend to as the credit crunch intensifies, pawnbrokers are filling the gap. Read more

How to solve a liquidity problem

In France pawnboking is seen more as a public service, far removed from the Dickensian image of a British pawnshop, customers can take out a 12-month loan equivalent to half the value of the objects they leave. Read more

On the bright side of the downturn

This is a good time to be a pawnbroker. The UK, as we are often reminded, has amassed a £1,000bn "personal debt mountain". Credit is drying up and 1m people are coming off low fixed-rate mortgages. Residential repossessions are predicted to double this year and personal insolvencies to rise 20 per cent. The ability of pawnbrokers to advance cash against a shiny wristwatch or a set of sovereign rings is coming back into its own. It helps that the gold price has doubled since 2004. Read more

Pawnshop polishes image for a new age

Pawnbrokers are moving into the 21st century, offering new services such as car-hire and debt consolidation. As high street banks tighten lending practices after a slew of bad loans, consumers are turning to other outlets.

One is the British pawnbroker. Once thought of as an embarrassing fall-back, people have begun using pawnbrokers as a means of short-term cash flow Read more