H&T cashes in on slump

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H&T, which has more than 120 High Street branches with almost a third in London, said its retail stores were "trading well ahead of current market expectations".

The chain, whose pledge book is almost entirely devoted to gold and diamond-set jewellery, said since June it had "benefited considerably" from higher gold purchasing volumes.

H&T typically charges customers 8%-10% a month for cash advances. It then sells the goods on, either through its stores or as a commodity.

In a bid to cash in from a recession-fuelled surge in the number of Britons looking to pawn valuables or use branches for unsecured loans, H&T opened 56 branches in shopping centres this year.

The firm said they were trading well, and it expects to open another 12.

But the board admitted concern that "current volumes may not be sustainable" meant it had not locked into long leases.

H&T, which started as Harvey & Thompson with a branch in Vauxhall Bridge Road in 1897, also said that "uncertainty" about sustaining the present level of gold purchasing volumes meant that its board had not upgraded full-year profit expectations.

The total number of pawn shops in the UK as a whole has risen 25% to 1000 over the past five years.