A Sutton pawnbrokers is beating the credit crunch and is set to release record trading figures.

Harvey and Thompson, the UK’s largest pawnbrokers, are cashing in while hard times sweeping the country.

This week, the Sutton-based company, which opened its first store in 1897, announced good trading figures and a record number of store openings nationwide.

In Sutton, the company’s store will be relocating to another part of the high street later this year, but the company’s commercial director Steve Fenerty said they are not preying on residents financial troubles.

He said: “We cannot stand up as white knights, but customers are using us to help their short-term finances. People have this image of pawnbrokers as shops with metal grills and a gun on the wall, but it’s very different.”

The company deal predominantly in jewellery, although in the past they have had a bronze bust of Winston Churchill and a life-size silver model of a swan pass through their doors.

Mr Fenerty added: “It is the kind of items you see on the high street – chains, rings, necklaces. People realise that if they don’t use something they might as well sell it on.”

Mr Fenerty believes they will see the most customers this year.

“So far the crisis has mainly hit the middle classes, but as the recession bites, more working class will be effected,” he said.