It is estimated that total UK personal debt currently stands at £1,237b. Additionally, personal debt is growing at a rate of £1m every four minutes! That equates to an increase of £15m an hour. What’s more, one person is falling victim to insolvency every minute, and in the last four years the average age of a bankrupt has dropped from 43 to 41.
These are worrying statistics, but perhaps music to the ears of debt firms that are reporting rapid growth. Recently, pawnbroker Albemarle & Bond (LSE: AMB) said its annual profits rose 18% to £6.6m, and it hailed 2006 as another very successful year. It has grown through acquisitions, expansions and an organic increase in demand for its services. These include traditional pawn broking, third-party cheque cashing, payday advances and loans….