Business Overview
H&T Group was founded in London in 1897 as Harvey & Thompson. In 1992, when it had 27 stores, H&T was acquired by Cash America Inc. Following this change of ownership H&T continued to grow both in terms of number of stores and range of products and services offered.
Under the Cash America ownership, H&T began providing cheque cashing and unsecured loan services. In 2001 the Company embarked on a programme to improve its retail offering, investing in extensive refurbishment and rebranding of its stores to make them more appealing from a retail perspective.
In September 2004, a management team led by John Nichols and backed by funds managed by Rutland Partners undertook a management buy-out of the H&T business. Since then, the Company has added to the depth of the management team, appointing a new Finance Director and Operations Director, and successfully implementing a number of strategies to improve the performance of its business, including:
- expansion of geographical footprint: H&T has expanded to over 250 stores across the UK and continues to develop its store estate in under-served areas of which there are still a considerable number in the UK;
- introduction of new financial products services that have served to expand the appeal of the brand and widen the customer base
| May 2006 | May 2007 |
| H&T completed its admission to AIM with a placing price of £1.72 and market capitalisation of approximately £54m AIM Admission Document May 2006 | H&T successfully placed another 3.6million shares on AIM raising an additional £7m to fund the growth of the company’s retail estate |
| March 2008 | March 2009 |
| Through new build and acquisition, H&T grows its estate to 93 stores | The company had 106 stores nationwide |
| October 2010 | January 2012 |
| H&T named employer of the year by the National Pawnbroking Association (NPA) | H&T has over 160 stores and 50 Gold Bars nationwide |
| October 2012 | December 2012 |
| Awarded Investors in People Gold. Won the NPA Employer of the Year and Community Contribution awards. | Store estate of 186 stores and 24 Goldbar units |
| January 2013 | March 2013 |
| Roll out of the new BuyBack product into H&T stores | Roll out of the Foreign Exchange product in to all stores |
| September 2013 | October 2013 |
| New Personal Loans product launched in all stores | Two H&T employees won the NPA Rising Star and Employee of the Year awards |
| December 2013 | June 2014 |
| Store estate of 194 stores | Roll out of the new retail store branding concept and unique est1897 retail jewellery store concept |
| October 2014 | February 2015 |
| H&T won NPA Store of the Year, Community Contribution and Rising Stars awards H&T launch an industry first, mobile phone app for secured lending Expansion of the retail proposition when the online shop is launched |
Expansion of the retail proposition when the online shop is launched H&T employee wins Retail Jeweller’s Rising Stars Award and H&T shortlisted for Employer of the Year and Innovation Award at UK Jewellery Awards Continued investment in a fully integrated consumer approach see the launch of an online account management facility, another industry first |
| March 2015 | |
| Launch of online pawnbroking capability |