About Us
The NPA was incorporated in 1931 as a company limited by guarantee
Key Facts
Below are some key facts about the National Pawnbrokers Association.
Did you Know?
- The NPA is the trade organisation for Britain's pawnbroking industry and has a growing membership now in excess of 900 outlets.
- The NPA has been in existence for more than 110 years.
- The NPA exists to safeguard the interests of pawnbrokers and customers alike, producing an operations manual and laying down a code of conduct for members.
- Pawnbroking today is part of the credit industry and is regulated alongside banks and other lenders by the Consumer Credit Act 1974. Pawnbroking shops are modern, well lit and offer a friendly personal service.
- The comparatively recent upsurge in the industry came during the 1980's credit boom and has continued to today with customers now preferring the speed and convenience of pawnbroking for small cash sums over other High Street lenders.
- The NPA has its own cash services company, providing a 3rd party cheque clearing facility for its members.
- The NPA provides members with general advice, from legal to marketing to security to insurance and deals with thousands of different membership queries each year.
- The NPA has close links with bodies such as Department for Business Innovation and Skills, the Office of Fair Trading, Trading Standards Departments, Financial Ombudsman and Police Constabularies throughout the country.
- The NPA deals with dozens of media enquiries each year from national and local radio, newspapers and television, gaining considerable free and high profile advertising for the industry and its members.
- The NPA produces a quarterly magazine, The Pawnbroker, to keep its members and other industry stakeholders in touch with what is happening in the pawnbroking sector.
