Britain’s pawnshops do a roaring trade

The owners of small British businesses are turning to pawnshops for cash.

One of the UK’s largest pawnbrokers, H&T, with 282 premises nationwide, explained that with banks agreeing to fewer business loans, people were pawning personal possessions.

Builders and shopkeepers were going to H&T, its chief executive Christ Gillespie revealed, after failing to obtain funding for more materials or new stock.

“We’ve got people who use it to pay their quarterly VAT bill or wages,” he said.

Items pledged to H&T were usually valued at around £200 (€234.50) with an average loan worth less than that.

Gillespie nevertheless added that more businesses were asking to borrow £5,000 (€5,862), bringing in expensive watches and jewellery as pledges.

“The banks will not lend you money against your watch,” he pointed out.

On repaying a loan, the pawned articles are returned, otherwise they are sold through H&T’s retail stores.

The value of the chain’s pledge book stood at £105 million (€123.1 million) by June 2024 compared with £101 million (€118.4 million) in December 2023.

Income rose to £55.8 million (€55.4 million), 11 per cent up on the previous year, while pre-tax profits of £9.9 million (€11.6 million) increased by 12.5 per cent.