borro sees 'goldmine' of luxury assets as increasing numbers unlock their value

The UK is sitting on a goldmine of jewellery, luxury watches, fine art and antiques, among other assets. borro’s valuation experts have seen larger loans against individual assets including fancy coloured diamonds, modern British art and more signed designer jewellery pieces coming from clients looking to unlock finance from their personal assets.

Samantha Lilley, Head of Valuation at borro, commented:

“We lent £14,000 against a couple of interesting Dylan Lewis bronze Sculptures I valued at borro last year, depicting South African wildlife, including abstract forms of stalking leopards.  He is a very popular artist, and his pieces do very well at auction; to value unusual studies by Dylan Lewis was most rewarding.”

Annabel Zarandi, Valuations Executive at borro, added:

“The most interesting piece I valued in 2012 was a natural coloured diamond within a ring setting. An amazing piece of jewellery, the piece was accompanied by a GIA certificate describing the diamond as fancy intense yellow and of natural origin.  It was a really interesting piece which required a great deal of research and we were able to lend almost £70,000 against it.”

Paul Aitken, CEO of borro says:

“The big auction houses, such as Christie’s and Sotheby’s, announced assets such as coloured diamonds had set auction records, and the value of such assets had rocketed over recent years.  It is, therefore, no surprise we’ve seen high value jewellery such as coloured diamonds being used by clients to unlock finance.

“In a climate where loans from traditional sources remain few and far between, an increasing number of individuals, entrepreneurs and small business owners recognise they have accumulated a wealth of personal assets that can temporarily be turned back into cash, quickly and easily.  For small business owners and SMEs this is especially important when needing to realise a business opportunity that would not have otherwise been possible. The continuing growing demand for our service just goes to show that alternative forms of financing are becoming more mainstream.”