Albemarle & Bond rescued by investment group

ALBEMARLE & Bond, the pawnbroker, has been bought out of administration.

The Wakefield-based firm has been rescued by an investment group led by Promethean Investments. 

The deal sees 128 Albemarle & Bond branches acquired and 628 jobs saved. The 59 branches employing 181 jobs not included will be retained by administrators PwC.

Promethean is leading the investment on behalf of an international investor group.

A new CEO, Stephen Plowman, will be appointed with a mandate to reconfigure the business and refocus it back to its core business lines of pawnbroking and jewellery retailing and return it to profitability. 

The plan will maintain the majority of stores, in addition to preserving hundreds of jobs.  

The new management team, Promethean Investments, its co-investors and PwC said they will work together to ensure that the transition out of administration is achieved as quickly and seamlessly as possible.

Mike Jervis, lead administrator at PwC said: “The deal announced today was the best offer received, preserving the most jobs and keeping the most stores open.  All 120,000 pledged items remain safe and available for the customers to redeem.
 
“This deal achieves the most positive outcome for customers, staff and landlords- which has always been a key driver for A&B’s stakeholders.”

PwC were appointed  as administrators last month.