Struggling restaurant and bar owners are pawning "highly personal" and "sentimental items" to help pay the bills.
Posh Pawn entrepreneur James Constantinou says his business is being flooded with treasured belongings as Britain suffers in the grip of a financial crisis. And he fears we are facing the "worst year the economy has faced for a long time." The boss says he has been seeing a lot of clients from the restaurant and bar industry, who are fighting to cope with massive energy bills and "record" staff wages.
The founder of Prestige Pawnbrokers and star of Channel 4 TV show Posh Pawn which ran for seven series, says things are so grim he’s been offered family heirlooms by business owners trying to stay afloat. One tearful client who runs a string of restaurants and bars even offered a 965 Jaguar E-type worth £70,000 that belonged to their late father and another a solid gold Rolex worth £10,000 that was an 18th birthday present.
James, who went from a council estate upbringing to multi-millionaire status and TV stardom, said: “People are coming into us with items that are clearly personal and have deep sentimental meaning. “The man with the E-Type was welling up talking about how his father had it from new and had worked on it in the garage, restoring it. It was quite touching.
"It was a thing he really cared about and he didn't want to lose it. For him to bring that into me was quite an emotional thing for him and me." Asked what he thinks are the biggest challenges for small businesses, he lists interest rates, the cost of living and energy bills. He said: “Interest rates are probably the biggest killer for people at the moment. Business owners are struggling and up against it. What has been quite difficult for people is staffing after the exodus after Brexit and the pandemic. “
He says one of his clients is a man who runs 17 restaurants who is “facing record levels of staffing pay. "He says to me; ‘I just can’t find the staff and when I do find them, I’ve got to pay the earth and it’s really eaten into my margins.’ And what with the fuel bills as well, he’s been kicked in the teeth from every angle.
"He’s struggling to get people to work, he’s struggling to meet demands of their pay and with the cost of living and fuel crisis he’s paying another 60 per cent on top to run his restaurants.” He says he’s also hearing people saying it’s “impossible” to get money out of the bank and can take months." As a result, he said: “We are seeing clients considering parting with items with great sentimental value."
The business tycoon from Surrey has been offered anything from a mini submarine, planes and yachts to a Swarovski crystal drum kit used on a Kylie Minogue tour. He said they try not to sell people’s belongings, explaining they earn their money from the interest. He explained how his business is a “great barometer” of the economic climate.
He described February as “amazing” and described how they are seeing “a lot of big numbers”. “Last year it was £2,000 to £3,000 and £15,000 to £20,000 but recently I had a guy who wants to borrow a million pounds,” he revealed. "We don’t see those big numbers every day. But in the last month or so I've been getting one every other day.
“That person is quite well known and he’s just run into a brick wall financially with the family run business. He’s very well respected and it’s quite surprising that I’ve heard from him. James says he does “try and retain their goods until the last minute” and said 85% of goods that come in are redeemed (repaid).
James, 56, who has eight branches, and has valued helicopters, Lamborghinis, rock stars’ personal belongings and even Royal artefacts, added: “It is probably going to be the worst year the economy has faced for a long time. It’s gathering pace for us and that’s an indication that things are not going to get better, they are going to get worse. In my opinion this is going to be a very bad year for us and small businesses.