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Auctioneers unite to conquer the East

Firms from around UK - including Newcastle’s Anderson and Garland - launch Association of Accredited Auctioneers to bring trust and professionalism to international art market

Nineteen leading British fine art and antiques auctioneers with a combined annual turnover in excess of £200 million have united to become a dominant UK force in the international market and attract high-spending buyers to their sales from China and beyond.

In an unprecedented move, they have launched The Association of Accredited Auctioneers (Triple-A) and forged commercial links with Asia’s only on-line live bidding portal www.epailive.com. This service promotes Triple-A auctioneers’ sales directly to more than 100,000 registered collectors of fine art and antiques in China and posts catalogues translated into Chinese online.

More significantly, an escrow system – operated independently of Epailive – guarantees payments are made by successful bidders. On registering to bid in a sale, bidders are contractually required to commit funds to cover their purchases. This money is accessible to the auctioneer following the sale within 48 hours of the fall of the hammer.

Early signs are promising with Triple-A firms reporting an encouraging level of demand for the first sales listed on the platform. The objective is to increase international confidence and understanding of the UK auction business through a programme of targeted marketing, quality assurance and educational presentations to key growth markets.

“The internet is having an increasingly significant impact on our individual businesses,” said Triple-A founder Chairman Chris Ewbank (Ewbank’s Surrey), “but auctioneers and their buyers have been wary of dealing with each other when they are separated often by thousands of miles and obvious language barriers.

“The biggest problems for UK auctioneers and their clients have been the difficulties of placing their sales before Chinese bidders and, because of differing practice and a culture of delay, Chinese buyers have frequently been slow in paying or have refused to pay at all. The new escrow arrangement gives huge advantages to sellers, who will henceforth have certainty of prompt settlement.

“Ours is a market sector in which credibility and service are key. Triple-A provides a platform from which to broaden foreign consumers’ understanding of precisely what they should expect from a UK auction house and what the auction house requires from them.

“The auction profession in the UK has historically been somewhat fragmented below the level of the three dominant global businesses. Triple-A is a unique departure from the historic concept of individual firms being reliant solely on their own limited marketing and development budgets.

“As a not-for-profit association, Triple-A will represent the highest level of standards and service in the profession, and we will jealously guard its accreditation standards with a rigid code of practice which all members must adhere to.”

Triple-A secretary Jeremy Lamond (Halls Shropshire) said: “China, in particular, has been an increasingly important market for UK auctioneers as the appetite for repatriating Chinese works of art has grown exponentially in recent years.

“There is now an increasing body of evidence in support of the notion that China’s ‘middle classes’ are beginning to look West in the evolution of their collecting and decorating tastes. Triple-A provides its membership with the ideal platform from which to promote access to Britain’s rich market for the benefit of its seller clients”

Paul Viney the Chairman of the Society of Fine Art Auctioneers and Valuers (SOFAA) commented, “Personally I welcome any initiative that can help us promote and develop our business links with the Chinese. Triple-A will be making a presentation at the next SOFAA committee meeting in December and we look forward to hearing more about their plans.”

The 19 founder auctioneers and representatives of Triple-A are as follows:

Anderson & Garland (Tyne & Wear) Andrew McCoull

Baldwins (London) Seth Freeman*

Bearnes Hampton & Littlewood (West Country) Chris Hampton

The Canterbury Auction Galleries (Kent) Tony Pratt

Cheffins (Cambridgeshire) Martin Millard*

Dreweatts/Bloomsbury (Berkshire/London) Stephan Ludwig*

Ewbank’s (Surrey) Chris Ewbank*

Fellows (Midlands) Stephen Whittaker

Gorringes (Sussex) Clifford Lansberry

Halls (Shropshire) Jeremy Lamond*

Hartleys West Yorkshire) Andrew Hartley

Lawrences of Crewkerne (Somerset) Helen Carless*

Lyon & Turnbull (Edinburgh) Paul Roberts

Mallams (Oxfordshire, Gloucestershire) Robin Fisher

McTear’s (Glasgow) Brian Clements

Peter Wilson (Cheshire) Robert Stones

Roseberys (London) Ian Cadzow

Sworders (Essex) Guy Schooling*

Toovey’s (Sussex) Rupert Toovey •

*Denotes committee member

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Sarah Waddington .