THANKS to the recession, pawn shops spring up on just about every major UK high street. Perhaps more interesting is the less exposed world of high-end pawnbroking, the subject of this series.

It goes behind the scenes with Surreybased Prestige Pawnbrokers’ staff and their clients. Whether dealing with a Ferrari, a £250,000 diamond necklace or a yellow submarine, Prestige pride themselves on loaning money against anything.

Naturally there’s no shortage of colourful characters involved in this big budget world, from the relative of a former East End cat burglar to Ken Russell’s fourth wife.

Headed by former property developer James Constantinou, with a team of asset experts, we see how the boss dips a toe in the lucrative waters of Marbella, and in this first episode, how the staff are blown away by two jaw-dropping diamond necklaces.