Collapsed pawnbroker Ablemarle & Bond Herbert Brown sells pledgebook to H&T

Many customers have encountered difficulties redeeming their items pawned in return for loans following the abrupt closure of A&B’s 116 stores across the UK last month.

At the time, customers visiting A&B’s website were told their goods were being held at its pawnbroking centre for the duration of their loan.

Customers will now be able to redeem their items from their local H&T branch after it struck a deal for A&B’s pledgebook.

In a statement to customers on its website, A&B said: “We believe that our agreement with H&T is a good outcome for customers and will enable them to redeem or extend their pledges with minimal disruption.

“We would like to say that we greatly appreciate your patience and understanding in this matter. We are deeply sorry for any uncertainty and upset caused by our decision to close our shops in the in the UK. Once we decided to do this, we had to move quickly, to secure customers’ pledges in our central secure facility.”

A&B is owned by Speedloan Finance, which, according to its most recent filings with Companies House, had a loan book of £14.4m in the year to March 31, 2018 and revenues of £34m. Both were down from the previous year when the loan book stood at £15.2m and overall revenues were £38m.

Its ultimate owner is a Japanese company, Daikokuya Holdings, which is listed on the Tokyo stock exchange and also has a pawnbroking business in Japan.