Episode 6 Cash Britain

Times may be tough across the UK but one business is flourishing.

As more and more people flog family treasures,

the pawnbrokers are cashing in.

670 quid there.

You're joking?

For six months, we've seen how one pawn business in Birmingham makes its money,

and how desperate people are for their services,

whether it's for the basics...

People are pawning just to get £10 to get themselves some bread and milk.

It's the way it is.

..or luxuries we can ill afford.

I've packed up gambling three days a week.

I've got to pack up for seven days a week.

Pawnbroking may be a last resort, but their services don't come cheap.

Some days I don't eat because you can't really afford to.

But there's no shortage of punters ready to do whatever it takes to get by.

That is one of the weirdest things I've ever had in.

I have not had somebody come in with a gold tooth.

Welcome to Cash Britain.

For more than 30 years, Gerry Snr has been buying and loaning

against all sorts of things

and now he wants his kids to take over the reins.

I don't want to leave them this business

where they sell it and live in the Cayman Islands.

I want them to get on it and work it.

This afternoon, if it's a mad rush, it could be a stampede.

I don't wish people to get crushed in the shop,

but, hey, I'm here to take their money.

55 grand's worth of stamps. What have you done today, eh?

Trying to get them to gel together can be a bit awkward at times.

Someone puts a little post on Facebook

and you respond within 30 seconds.

Someone puts an e-mail into our business

and it takes you two days to respond.

I look haggard and tired and worn out.

Oh, just put on loads of weight.

It's what this shop does to me.

The bank manager sent me a letter in red this time,

cos he likes me so much, yeah.

I actually want to get a little set of drums and a cymbal and go,

b-b-tsk!

It's Friday the 13th

and handyman Michael is hoping it's a good day to visit the pawnbrokers.

-You all right, mate?

-You all right, mate? Yes.

I've got some bits of tat. I want to see if they're worth anything.

Today I didn't have no work so I just thought I'd come and try my luck,

weigh it in, see what I'd get for it.

Let's have a look. Pound coin's worth a quid.

Right, let's have weigh up.

Nine-carat bracelet and a nine-carat watch case.

'I know gold had gone up, but...'

I was only expecting about £150 at the most.

On this stuff here - you might have a shock on this - you've got...

670 quid there.

-You're joking?

-No. It's what I said, yeah!

Yeah, 670 quid there.

When he said 670, I thought it was a wind-up at first.

I can't get me hat on.

I've had them knocking about for ever and a day.

-I thought, "I'll weigh them."

-And you thought, "I'll get rid of them."

Oh no, I meant 50 quid(!)

I know you're an honest bloke. Don't worry.

670 quid there.

I'll just go and get some dosh for you. 670 quid.

See if the notes are still dry.

Being Friday the 13th, it's been a lucky day for me.

Waiting for something bad to happen to me next.

20, 40, 60, that makes 70. There you are, my man.

I'll see you later. mate. Ta-ta, mate, bye.

'Couple of pieces.'

First one's a nine-carat bracelet.

And the other one's a nine-carat watch.

It's quite an old one, this, presented 1966

and they don't give the gold watches out any more like that, do they?

They want it to go, it's gone, so it'll go in the tub and get melted.

It's not been a bad day's work already. I haven't done a stroke yet.

I think I can put a tenner on Watchmaker

and I might have a go at £5 each way on White Diamond.

-Couple of winners there for Friday 13th, hopefully.

-Looks good, hope so.

'Hopefully have more money by the end of today.

'Come four o'clock, I'll have a couple of winners in my pocket,'

and won't have to go to work if I carry on at this rate. I can retire.

See you later.

Dream on, Michael.

Watchmaker fell at the third and White Diamond came in fourth.

For some people, pawning and betting go hand in hand.

-Hello.

-Hiya.

-That's my Cartier watch there.

-Yeah.

-How much can I have on it, please? About 150, 200?

You want 150?

Halil's watch has been in the safe

almost as much as it's been on his wrist.

-How are you, anyway?

-Terrible.

-Terrible? Why?

Yeah, absolutely terrible. Still gambling.

SHE TUTS

Terrible thing for a man.

It gets addictive. It's like shopping for a woman, isn't it?

At least you've got us to fall back on.

-Not for long, though.

-Not for long.

Don't be gambling this money now.

This one is going on number three at 2.30 at Haydock today.

-No, it's not.

-All right, then.

No more gambling, you!

-See you later.

-See you later.

-Bye.

-Bye.

'I have quite a few customers that come in for the money to gamble

'and then they come back a couple of hours later if they've won,'

or sometimes you don't hear off them for another four, five, six weeks.

Gambling is my second name, I reckon.

HE LAUGHS

In the early days, I used to lose all my wages.

I used to pick up £250, £300 a week,

and used to walk to the bookies on a Saturday morning.

By about two o'clock in the afternoon, be skint.

I know some people might look at gambling as a bad thing,

but for other people it's a hobby, isn't it? It's something to do.

I once put £1,000 on a British runner in the Greek Olympics.

I'll never forget her. She pulled up, bad leg.

While Halil remains optimistic, others are more cautionary.

I've lost 90 grand, a wife, three houses and four children

through gambling

and I can't sleep of a night if I owe people money.

I bet the money on horses.

You can't win on the dogs. You can't win at the horses.

You can't win at gambling.

I shouldn't have borrowed the money. I'm in debt through gambling.

Six months ago, William pawned his gold ring for 50 quid.

I haven't got the money to pay for my ring,

but can I renew it for six months, please?

Cos I don't want to lose my ring.

'He's a regular customer.'

He's just been in and paid interest on his ring, signet ring.

It's a nice little signet ring, actually. Half-engraved.

I borrowed £50 and I've got to pay £70 back.

So it's a safer bet.

That's why I paid nearly £30 interest for six months

so I can get my ring back when I get the money in six months' time.

So what are you up to for the rest of the day?

Well, I'm going to pay me debts

and I might have a bit of luck in the bookies.

-But I'll take it easy.

-Take it easy.

-Not go too wild.

-No.

-Good man.

-I only can afford to lose a tenner.

-Good man.

'We do get a few people that come in and they're gamblers, shall we say.

'There's a bookies over the road.

'They go and nip over there, they put a few pound on.

'Nine times out of ten, they lose.'

If I put a pound on every tip I'd been given, I'd be skint by now.

I've packed up gambling three days a week.

I've got to pack up for seven days a week,

but the only challenge I've got in life is to have a bet, not a lot,

because you can't win, at the end of the day.

The more you put on, the more you'll lose.

With prices up and wages down,

more and more of us are feeling the pinch.

Mark is a lawyer.

But with money tied up in a house move, he needs to free up some cash.

I have had a number of items in storage for quite a long time,

and it seemed to me it was more sensible to use the assets I've got

to raise some money against them and let someone else have the cost

of storage and insurance and use some cash from them in the meantime.

He's hoping his art and pottery will see him quids in.

This is a painting by the Irish artist Ken Moroney.

It was bought for about £500.

I would expect that the value's increased since then

to maybe between 600 and 800.

Based on the research that I've done,

this particular artist's work is collected widely,

so, as far as I'm concerned, it's something that would be a good asset

to hold against the loan.

I've also bought a Royal Doulton dinner service.

I'm hoping to go away with about £1,000.

It's always useful to have more rather than less cash.

Mark's confident he'll get his money.

But Karl wants to check the figures at a local auction house.

-Hello, I'm Jeremy.

-Nice to meet you.

I think we should start with the Ken Moroney.

He's very well known for his Anglo-Irish Impressionist work.

This one at auction, I would hazard,

it was probably £300, £400 worth, I'd have thought.

Not the start he wanted.

-Shall we move on to the other items?

-Sure.

-And carry on with those?

It's a Royal Doulton dinner service. Ravenswood.

These prices I've literally just got off eBay.

-Total is about £2,000.

-Couple of grand.

You like the design, do you?

There's a limit to where you could place this

-in pounds, shillings and pence in my world.

-OK.

-This is not a kind of investable piece.

-Right.

-This is not an antique which will go up in value, I'd surmise.

-OK.

Where would you want to be if you were loaning money on this?

I reckon £100 or £200.

-Pretty harsh.

-I realise.

I can only speak from what I know from selling things, seeing things.

There is a benchmark, and, you know, there's enough of this stuff on eBay.

I don't see how those figures work on eBay, I really don't.

That's another disappointment.

You'll always be disappointed if you come to an auctioneer.

Being honest, Mark, it sounded a lot of money to me at first,

but I was hoping it was, like, yes.

-Well, look, it's a negotiation.

-Yeah.

-We'll come up with a number.

'I thought that the auctioneer's valuations were extremely harsh'

and very much on the bottom end of what I would expect.

Take a seat, Mark.

So where do you want to be in loaning money against the picture

and your Royal Doulton?

If I could leave here with £500, £600 then that would be worth my trip.

-Would you be with that?

-Yeah.

You've got a deal, then. Good man. Thank you.

Despite the valuations, Karl's taking a punt.

If he doesn't come back for the painting, we'll keep it in the shop.

I like it.

I think that's going to grow into money.

Mum, if you could count me out 600, please.

That's grand.

'No, I have no intention of leaving them to be sold.

'I shall definitely be back.

'They're all personal items which have significant personal meaning.'

Thank you very much.

The commonest pawn is jewellery.

But although they might generate lots of cash,

there are some things money can't buy.

Paul gave up work to look after his wife Lynn

when she was diagnosed with cancer.

I've been a carer for almost seven or eight years, really.

She'd been ill, she'd been up and down, up and down all the time now

and for the last three or four years

she's been really ill with lung and heart problems.

She went into hospital, and...

it was such a shock, you know.

Nobody ever thought she was going to die. But unfortunately she did.

After Lynn's death a year ago, Paul had money problems,

and he took the difficult decision to pawn her gold.

I just needed to do that, I needed to just get some cash,

get some food on the table, basically, and pay the bills, you know.

Things have to be done, you know. Last resort.

It's, like, better than having a loan off a loan shark or whatever,

who charge you so much interest it's unbelievable.

Now he wants to get her jewellery back.

But without the money to redeem it, he has to pawn something else.

Hello, mate. You all right?

All right. Yeah. What you trading at today?

-To pawn or sell?

-To pawn, pawn, yeah.

To pawn... Was it nine carat?

-Between about £8-£9 a gram.

-I think there's 27 grams there.

With this money, I'm going to get my wife's jewellery out.

-I've got the thing here so...

-Righty-o.

-I don't want to lose that.

Yeah, yeah, yeah, no trouble, yeah.

-You're putting this in to get your wife's out?

-That's it.

-Does she know you're getting the stuff out?

-No, she passed away.

-Oh, dear, I'm sorry.

-I just don't want to lose it, cos, you know...

Oh, no, no, you don't, under them circumstances. I don't blame you at all.

It just reminds me... I would never have let it go, no matter what.

There'll always be something here with jewellery to remind me of her.

He's just come in and he's putting his stuff in, make the balance up,

cos he said, under the circumstances, it means a lot to him.

That's the goodies. That's the important bit back, innit?

There you go mate, yeah, yeah. Job done. Cheers. Ta-ra, mate.

They're the bits he's put in, look, signet ring.

It's obviously his. And bits and pieces there.

'Does have a lot of sentimental value to me as well.'

It's the signet ring that my wife bought me,

and I had to put my wedding ring in, so I must get that out.

A chain, a gold chain,

that she bought me as well.

So them things will have to get out for definite, you know?

Cos that's another part of my wife, really.

He's done the deed and we've got his stuff in here now

which will be up in another six months' time.

But the most important thing to Paul

is that he's finally got his wife's jewellery back.

It's nice to see them. I thought I was going to lose them.

But, you know, I knew that I couldn't let them go.

This is what I bought her for her 40th birthday, this was.

This was what I got her when she was 50,

this one.

And these were just all bought in-between.

These two are the most sentimental ones, really.

When you're hard up for money, you have to do it this day and age.

It has to be done to survive, really, you know what I mean?

All manner of objects come to the pawnbrokers.

And Gez always wanted to be a train spotter.

Everything works in here as well,

so it's actually a coal-fired steam engine.

It's fantastic, isn't it?

Imagine having your own little train track in the garden and one of these.

You'd have some fun, wouldn't you? Woo-woo!

The guy contacted us off the website, saw we take items of value,

phoned us up and asked us if we'd be interested doing a loan.

He wants as much as he can get.

Now it's my job to get it valued and find out what it's worth.

Bloody hell!

I've got absolutely no idea. Never had one before.

Be very interesting to find out a bit more about this train,

see if we can get a bit of history.

Be a bit of a learning curve for me.

-They're normally heavy.

-It weighs a ton.

-They do weigh a ton. Can we go and get a valuation on it?

-Yeah.

-Not going to fire it up and just drive it in, are you?

-Wish I could.

It's a nice-looking live steam tank loco.

It's about five inch.

Five inches is big.

These can tug some weight.

Oh, yeah, that's got a bit of power in it.

And overall looks in pretty good nick.

Just missing a top but that's such an easy job, really,

cos all these are scratch built.

So someone's actually physically made this as well on a lathe?

Yeah, and put it all together. They're a labour of love.

They're hundreds of hours' worth of work.

If you were paying a craftsman to do it,

-it'd be tens of thousands of pounds almost.

-Right, OK.

It's not like something you can go out and buy.

Somebody had to make that.

People pay hundreds of pounds just for a decent set of wheels.

The engineering tolerance is as good on these as it is on the real thing.

I bet they're fantastic. Thousandths of inch territory.

But what's it worth?

It's definitely worth a few thousand.

Auctioneers are fairly cautious bods

but I'd have thought, if I was estimating it,

I'd like it at two, three, cos then it's going to sell for sure.

-So two to three, we're on the right track.

-Yes, yes! Very good.

-Absolutely.

-I don't want to go steaming ahead with the wrong price.

No, you're too quick for me, clearly.

Time to break the news to the owner.

Hello, it's Gerry from Uncles here. How are you doing?

The auction house I've just took it to have valued it £2,000 to £3,000

and, based on that, the maximum I could lend you is £1,650.

OK, that's fantastic. OK.

Thank you very much. Bye-bye, bye-bye.

He said he'll be doing the loan with us, so there you go.

He seemed like a happy customer.

Birmingham is the UK's second largest city,

and 15% of the population relies on income support.

Meet Claire. She's passionate about painting.

And these are some of my artworks.

I used to do it quite a bit. Therapeutical as well.

Might not be everyone's cup of tea but it's my cup of tea.

A bad back and mounting health problems

have left her struggling to paint.

And that was my last piece I did. That's about a year ago.

But I'm not able to stand up and paint again as I used to

cos I'm not able to stand up for any great length of time.

Over the last five years, really, started to really affect me badly,

cos I can't move around like I used to.

I used to like to walk round the neighbourhood. I find it very hard.

I'm 56 now, but I didn't expect to end up being ill like this.

With limited mobility, Claire's dependent on her mobile phone.

My phone's very important to me.

It's not just there because it's a phone.

I need it because of medical reasons.

But she needs a new sim card.

And with her incapacity benefit not due for a week,

Claire's turning to the pawnbrokers.

What can I do for you today?

I'd like to see what I can have on these.

With the taxi outside, she needs enough to cover the sim and the fare.

How much do you want on them?

50, please.

I had them for my birthday in January. Oh, God have mercy.

They were given to me by my boyfriend. He'll understand.

He knows that I've done it for a good reason.

I've weighed it up and it only comes to about £35.

-Make it 40, please. Please.

-OK, I'll do 40 for you.

Yeah, cos I've got a cab outside as well.

-I'll do the 40 for you but I can't do 50.

-OK, all right. Thank you.

I just need to take a picture of you, darling.

If you could just stand there for me.

Lovely smile.

Oh, well, love, I've only got a few teeth left!

That's it done. £40. Do you want to pawn them or sell them?

No, pawn them! You're crazy! Oh!

Oh, no! Ooh!

So you'll definitely be coming back, then?

Oh, gosh, yes. Oh, gosh, yes.

-20, 40.

-Have you got two tens I could have, please?

Yeah, course. I'll just go and get them.

-Cos the taxi man probably don't have any change.

-There you go.

-Thank you very much.

-All right?

-OK.

-You look after yourself and I'll see you soon.

-I will.

'You do get people coming in saying they've got medical ailments,'

and they need money to get to a hospital appointment,

the bus fare, and stuff like that, quite a lot, actually.

-All right, have a nice day, my darling.

-See you, take care.

-OK.

'She needed the money to get the taxi to go to get the sim'

and then a taxi back home,

so £40 would be gone, wouldn't it, by the time you've done all that?

I've had my phone so long and I love it.

I don't care how it looks, my phone.

I don't want any digital one.

I don't want no blue, YouTube, BlackBerry.

I don't want any one of them. I'm happy with my mobile.

With the economic climate the way it is, people are pawning

just to get ten pound to get themselves some bread and milk,

it's the way it is.

These days, people will pawn anything.

We get unusual bits brought in.

You get silly things brought in sometimes.

I mean, we've had bed pans, brass bed pans, and stuff like that.

We've pawned cars. We took a clock in a time ago and some samurai swords.

Did have a chap bring a shotgun in once.

Got a bit nervous about that.

I had a lady a time ago standing here, I was serving her,

and I said, "Are you all right?"

She went, "Not really. I'm expecting." I said, "When's it due?"

She went, "Well, now. My waters have gone.

"I'm going down to the hospital but I didn't have any money."

I thought, "We'll have a go at most things,

"but childbirth's not one of them," you know!

But not everyone comes back for their goods.

And Gez has come across one item

that's lain unclaimed for more than 20 years.

I like to pull this out when Sam's having a bit of a moan.

VIOLIN SCREECHES

Maybe not.

They only lent a few quid against the violin,

but Gez thinks this fiddle could be worth a fortune.

There is a sticker on the inside. I think it's Stradivaria.

I've done a bit of research on the internet

and if it is one of the 615 of these violins left,

it could be worth a fortune, if it's real.

Then it's like we've just won the lottery. And it's been sitting back...

A bit like a proper Only Fools And Horses moment,

that old watch sitting in the garage.

This has been sitting here for that long. You never know.

While Gez could be sitting on millions...

Hiya.

..Michael's hoping to make a pretty penny

from something rather peculiar.

I've got a tooth to sell.

My son gave me a toffee to chew and it came off.

I went to the dentist and they said it just can't go back in.

So could you see what you can do? It's 18 carat?

Just have a little look.

It weighs not even a gram

and also it's mixed with other things, you see.

It's not full 18 carat.

-OK.

-Sorry about that.

Actually, I was wondering if I could get the bus fare back now,

because it's not my teeth hurting, it's my leg,

because I'm on a walking stick, you see.

So how much do you need for the bus fare?

About £2 to £3.

I could give you £2.

That's coming out of my own pocket, that is, to help you.

Now, that's... Oh, come on, that's really great.

Thanks very much. That's a pleasant thing for you to do.

-Get home safely.

-Yeah, I will, I will.

That is one of the weirdest things I've ever had in.

From my experience of working here the last six years,

I have not had somebody come in with a gold tooth.

I've still got the tooth and I've got £2 on top of it,

so I don't feel hard done by.

-I'm Gez. Pleased to meet you.

-I'm Francois. You spoke to me.

I spoke to you both, yeah. So, guys, in a nutshell,

I've got this violin that's been sitting in the back of my shop

for about 20 years now.

It's got a sticker inside.

Yeah, a label, like a Stradivarius or something.

Stradivarius is one of the greatest violin makers.

He perfected the outline, the arching and the shaping of the violin,

so they're a good model, a good sounding model.

It's missing... or it's not standing.

So is Gez sitting on a fortune?

You have an instrument that was made in Czechoslovakia...

..back in the 1950s.

And it is....

It's an imitation or replica of a Stradivari.

These things don't have great value.

We reckon between £150 and £200.

Could have been one of those lottery items.

It could have been my retirement ticket, that could have been.

How much do I need to spend on it to be able to make some money on it,

or is it just not worth doing?

Probably the best part of £150 to £200.

It's rather borderline whether it's going to earn you any money.

What were the chances of this being an original?

Less than one in a million, really.

-All Stradivari's work is pretty well accounted for.

-Yes.

No chance.

Oh, well, better luck next time, then.

'That went... It was OK.

'No, it was terrible.

'You've always got that little glimmer of hope

'that it could be the million pound item.'

There you go. It's a shame, but there you go.

We'll try to get another one.

If anyone's got a Strad, bring it in there.

30 years ago, pawnbrokers were on the verge of extinction.

Got about 120 there.

Oh, my god, mate! Really?

But today there are more than 1,500 and the numbers are growing.

I want to keep rubbing that in my hand.

Take it out your pocket first or you'll be in trouble!

There you go.

I kept the other ones out the back for later.

Oh, mate, I could come round and give you a hug.

For millions of us,

pledging our possessions has become an everyday necessity...

Could use that as an anchor chain for the Titanic.

And that's instant cash anywhere in the world.

..be it for life-changing amounts of money...

-Can lend you the 35,000.

-This, on the day, saves 30 jobs and a business.

Without the pawn shop, this shop would have never been possible.

That's my first customer.

But you know what, the worst thing about this? He's asking for change.

..or just to cover the basics.

Bills come along and you find yourself broke

and your only other option is to pawn your stuff.

When in comes to needing fast cash,

you might just find yourself at the counter.

I understand why they're there.

Yeah, it's to keep us from attacking the customers.

Like going down the casino, innit?

I got 120 quid!

What a nice lady.

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd