BROWN & GOLD IS EXPANDING….

Diary Of A PawnbrokerFeatures

THIS MONTH I AM PROUD TO ANNOUNCE WE WILL BE OPENING TWO NEW STORES IN YORKSHIRE

Both stores are existing jewellers and have been trading for over 40 years including a flagship store in York city centre. The shops will soon be rebranded into ‘Christopher Brown Jewellers’ and offer the full suite of new and pre-owned jewellery and financial services and will expand the empire to 8 branches across the North with 5 in Yorkshire and 3 in Liverpool.

My family have been jewellers and pawnbrokers for six generations and have been in the trade for nearly 180 years. The original business began in 1840 in Leeds and although that business has since changed ownership I am proud that my business, established in 2011 still continues to grow and I have continued with the family tradition.

While chatting to my father last week we started talking about some of the unusual items we get asked to lend on these days.

A good customer of our Batley store wanted to know if we could lend him £200 against his state of the art carbon bicycle worth over £1000 and his I-Pad. Well why not? I found several references to lending on bikes in the past from the original pledge books and it’s good to see that some things never change. I think the design and speed might have moved on a little.

My father said he was once asked to lend on a budgie in a cage, a Penny-farthing bicycle and a horse and trap! I don’t think our new York shop would appreciate having these parked outside!

Today 95% of our loans are on gold jewellery, diamonds and luxury watches such as ROLEX, however we do also lend on electrical items such as smart phones, lap tops and I-Pads and will consider most things of value. Carbon bikes and I-Phones can be just as valuable as a gold chain or a diamond ring, so if these are the greatest possessions of the new generation, then the modern pawnbroker must move with the times.

When you think about it, perhaps things just haven’t really moved on!

To find out more about our jewellery selection and financial services visit our new website www.browndandgold.co.uk

Chris Brown

You May Also Like

AUGUST 2017
AUGUST 2017

Author

Must Read

No results found.

Menu