Borro-ing - Don't do it!

In busy times - and these are! - I have little time to write, and a lot of the things that I would usually read as a matter of course either don't get read at all or are just pushed into a pile that I try to get to sooner or later. But I always read Business Credit News the minute I get it - which is how I came to find out about borro Ltd.

Borro are on-line pawnbrokers - and I don't know why I'm so surprised that no one has come up with that idea before - and the Company offers SMEs ( and other customers) short term loans of up to £1,000.000 secured against high value assets - art, antiques, diamond jewellery, yachts, prestige cars and, of course, gold. For obvious reasons, there are no credit checks. After all, if someone has your high value asset sitting in a warehouse somewhere they really don't need to spend the time and money checking your creditworthiness, do they?

Rates include all costs associated with couriers, valuation, storage and insurance - as well they might. The monthly interest on loans up to £19,999 is set at 4.99%. The APR equivalent is 68.8%.

In a Press Release published by Business Credit News today, the CEO of Borro stated that "UK businesses remain caught in a credit drought as yesterday's Bank of England statistics show that lending to companies went down 3.5% compared to a year ago", and added that "small business owners have had to turn to personal funds to boost their businesses".

That is undoubtedly true. SME's are still having a problem getting the financing and support they deserve, Project Merlin hasn't been the magical answer that we had all hoped for, and small business owners are still having to dig deep, cut down on staff, and use personal funds to keep their heads above water. However, and whilst I have no doubt that Borro is a reputable Company, and I have nothing against pawnbroking in general, I think I have to remind you that the traditional sign of a pawnbroker was three golden balls.

At the sort of rates Borro are offering two of them are yours...