Herbert Brown boosts pawn group

THE £30.7m acquisition of family-owned Yorkshire pawnbroker Herbert Brown & Son has helped boost the results of Albemarle & Bond.

Bristol group Albemarle & Bond, which is listed on the Alternative Investment Market (AIM), added Herbert Brown's 26 shops in the north of England to its chain of 86 outlets across the UK to become the country's largest pawnbroker last July.

And the deal has made an immediate contribution to the group's bottom line with half-year pre-tax profits up to £5.2m from £3.9m on turnover which increased from £17.2m to £24.9m in the six months to December 31.

It is paying an increased interim dividend of 2p a share.

Leeds-based Herbert Brown was founded in the city in 1840 by John Brown and was run by the sixth generation of the family, brothers Simon, Michael, Chris and Robert Brown.

The new owner plans to keep the name of the business and three of the Brown brothers will stay on as directors although the eldest, Simon, who had made an offer to buy the business, left following the sale.

Albemarle & Bond chairman Charles Nicolson said that the six months had seen a growth in pawn lending and its pawn loan book was up by 24% despite the “challenging” retail climate.

The biggest part of the group's business is loans secured against gold jewellery and diamonds. Its other activities, including third party cheque cashing and pay day advances have fallen by by 9% and 7% respectively due to increased competition and bad debts.

Mr Nicolson said: “Herbert Brown has continued to make good progress since our acquisition. Our aim was to increase the amount of income generated by financial services; we have started this process and are happy with the results achieved to date.”

Albemarle & Bond was founded in Bristol in 1986 as a pawnbroking service.