Pawnbroker to open 12 sites in Scotland

PAWNBROKING chain The Money Shop yesterday announced plans to open 12 stores in Scotland as part of a UK-wide expansion programme.

The company, which already operates more than 20 outlets north of the Border, said the move was in response to rising demand due to less credit being made available by banks and changing attitudes to pawnbroking.

Neil Surgenor, the firm’s head of pawnbroking, said customers increasingly see using pawnbrokers as “borrowing from themselves” with over 80 per cent coming back for their pawned possessions.

Across the UK, the firm is planning to open 50 outlets in 2012, creating 330 jobs.

The Money Shop’s parent company, Dollar Financial, also owns pawnbroking businesses Duncanson & Edwards in Edinburgh and Robert Biggar in Glasgow.