Ramsdens expands further in Scotland

Sept. 17, 2009 - PRLog -- High street pawnbroker Ramsdens Financial Ltd is to open more outlets in Scotland following the acquisition of three branches of Henderson the Jewellers.

The shops – in Bathgate, West Lothian, Kirkintilloch in Lanarkshire and Paisley, Renfrewshire – will boost the total number of Ramsdens shops in Scotland to nine and will secure the jobs of the 13 former Henderson’s staff.

Each of the new stores will continue to operate as jewellers but, in addition, customers will be able to take advantage of Ramsdens’ gold-buying service and commission-free foreign currency exchange.

The company has applied for Building Warrants to enable it to offer the full range of Ramsdens financial services, including pawnbroking, cheque cashing and loans until payday at each location in future.

These additions to Ramsdens’ Scottish portfolio represent a boom time for the rapidly expanding high street pawnbroker.

With a presence across most of the north of England and now Scotland, Ramsdens has been a trusted and reliable source of short-term cash loans since the 1950s.  

Its first foothold in Scotland was earlier this year after it acquired six former branches of Symington’s Jewellers in Aberdeen, Stirling, Kirkcaldy, Dundee, Falkirk and Coatbridge, securing the jobs of the 27 existing staff.

Ramsdens CEO Peter Kenyon said things were going from strength to strength in the Scottish outlets and the acquisition of three new ones was great news both for the business and the communities they serve.

“Like Hendersons, Ramsdens is a family owned and run business,” added Peter.  “It was founded over 50 years ago by Herbert Smith, father of the current Chairman, Stewart Smith, and we have always been passionate about delivering the best possible service to our customers and take pride in achieving this.

“The services we offer – from pawnbroking to gold buying, foreign currency to cheque cashing – have proved to be very popular at each of our Scottish locations and we have been welcomed with open arms,” Peter continued.

“We are confident that this will also be the case with our three new branches where we will roll out our full range of services as soon as we have secured the necessary permissions.”

Last month (August), Ramsdens became the first high street pawnbroking company to set up an internet service to extend its services to customers unable to easily access one of its stores. Find out more at www.PremierPawnbroking.co.uk.

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Ramsdens Financial Ltd is a privately owned business which was founded in Middlesbrough in the 1950s by Herbert Smith, father of the current Chairman, Stewart Smith. Ramsdens is the largest independent pawnbroker in the UK and has 42 shops across the north east and Scotland from Sheffield to Aberdeen.