Partner Article

Bidding for a bright future: Anderson & Garland

www.andersonandgarland.com
LinkedIn: Anderson & Garland Auctioneers
Photography: Andrew Lowe

After almost two decades with Anderson & Garland, Fred Wyrley-Birch and Alison Orgill have taken ownership of the historic Newcastle auction house following a management buyout. As the 186-year-old firm looks towards its bicentenary, the pair are preparing to enhance its reputation nationally, while preserving the personal service and North East identity that have shaped it for generations. Here, Fred and Alison speak to Peter Anderson about their respective journeys, the ‘Northern Approach’ at the heart of the business and their ambitions for the future.

When Anderson & Garland’s story began in 1840, the then 21-year-old Queen Victoria had been on the throne for just three years.

Closer to home, a 29-year-old William Armstrong was still practising as a solicitor with Donkin, Stable and Armstrong, devoting his spare time to engineering experiments seven years before abandoning the law to establish his Elswick works on the banks of the Tyne.

In the 186 years since, fashions, fortunes and technologies have come and gone, yet the fundamental principles underpinning the business have remained remarkably consistent: expertise, trust and an ability to connect remarkable objects with the people who value them.

Now operating from a 20,000sq ft saleroom in Westerhope, with clients spanning more than 100 countries, the Newcastle auction house is preparing for another significant chapter as its bicentenary hoves into view.

Responsibility for shaping what comes next rests with two people whose careers have been entwined with Anderson & Garland for almost two decades.

Fred Wyrley-Birch and Alison Orgill have taken ownership following a management buyout from Julian Thomson, who remains as chair, completing a natural succession years in the making.

Fred’s association with Anderson & Garland stretches back even further than his 2007 arrival as a porter.

Growing up in Tyne and Wear, he remembers accompanying his mother to the former Thomas Pattinson & Sons saleroom in Crawcrook, later operated by Anderson & Garland, before returning for work experience aged 16 and being unexpectedly invited onto the rostrum to sell ten lots.

Fred, whose infectious enthusiasm for auctioneering remains undiminished more than two decades later, says: “I absolutely loved it.

“I came back at 19 as a porter, unpacking boxes and shifting furniture, and learned on the job.

“Over time, I was told to put on a collared shirt, then a tie, then a jacket, before starting valuations.

“I spent a decade honing the craft before I was offered the opportunity to buy into the business.

“Taking ownership has given me a fresh challenge and a new level of enjoyment – and bringing Alison in with me was an obvious move.”

Alison’s route was markedly different.

Joining as a management accountant in 2009, she had never attended an auction and initially focused on bringing greater structure to the firm’s finances.

But such was her organisational nous, her remit quickly expanded.

She says: “I’d look around and think, ‘that needs sorting, that needs sorting and that needs sorting’. So, I’d sort it.

“Gradually, I became responsible for more and more – the people, HR, systems and how everything works operationally.”

Those contrasting strengths made the pair obvious partners when Julian began considering his succession.

Alison, whose progression has seen her become the first female shareholder director in Anderson & Garland’s history, adds: “Fred was always the natural successor.

“He’s incredibly hardworking and has that expertise, enthusiasm and relationship with clients.

“You look after people and build relationships that can last for decades and pass from one generation to the next; that’s how a reputation is built”

“When the opportunity arose, Fred and I were having Christmas lunch and I basically said, ‘If you’re looking for a business partner, I’m interested’.”

Fred adds: “Alison runs the internal side, which frees me up to do what I’m good at – being out with clients, valuing objects and talking about what comes through our doors.

“We’re completely different, but it works.”

Their combination of complementary skills also underpins a shared philosophy about how Anderson & Garland should do business.

Fred and Alison call it the ‘Northern Approach’.

For Alison, it means ensuring every interaction – whether with a buyer, seller or bereaved family disposing of a lifetime’s possessions – retains the personal touch she believes comes naturally in the North East: looking after people and treating them as you would hope to be treated yourself.

She says: “Customer experience is incredibly important to us.

“We want everyone who deals with Anderson & Garland to feel properly looked after.”

Fred describes it as doing things “with heart”.

He adds: “You might only need our auction services once in your lifetime, often at a very difficult time.

“It’s about treating people like human beings.

“If somebody has driven three hours to see us, you offer them a coffee and a slice of cake, ask how their journey was and make them feel welcome.

“It sounds simple, but people don’t always expect that anymore – and it makes a difference.”

Such relationships have repeatedly translated into extraordinary consignments.

Among them was Banksy’s The Merrivale Stable, a miniature thatched stable created as part of the artist’s Great British Spraycation in 2021, which sold for £1 million after its owners approached Anderson & Garland because the vendor’s mother had been a client three decades earlier.

For Fred, it perfectly illustrates the value of relationships cultivated over generations.

He says: “You look after people and build relationships that can last for decades and pass from one generation to the next.

“That’s how a reputation is built.”

Fred and Alison’s next challenge is taking that hard-earned reputation – and the personal service underpinning it – to a wider audience.

With London events and national valuation activity already broadening Anderson & Garland’s horizons, their ambition is to establish the firm as a major national name without sacrificing the identity that has long set it apart.

And the strategy is already bearing fruit.

Earlier this year, Anderson & Garland took the first tranche of Professor Brian Whitton’s remarkable collection of works by British modernist John Tunnard – described as the most comprehensive private holding ever to reach the market – to Mayfair for a dedicated viewing before returning to Newcastle for the auction.

It is precisely the kind of opportunity Fred and Alison hope to pursue more regularly as Anderson & Garland raises its profile.

Alison says: “Whether you’re in Cornwall, Edinburgh or Aberdeen, we want Anderson & Garland to be one of the auction houses that naturally comes to mind.”

And geographical expansion is only one way Fred and Alison see Anderson & Garland extending its offer.

Increasingly, the firm is working alongside solicitors, executors and families to provide formal professional valuations covering everything from individual possessions and specialist collections to entire estates.

Its probate work helps establish an estate’s value for inheritance tax purposes, while supporting the fair distribution of possessions between beneficiaries.

Alongside this, Anderson & Garland provides independent insurance valuations accepted by leading insurers and underwriters, with its expertise extending to the eventual disposal of entire estates and some clients even arranging for treasured possessions to be handled after their death.

Adding another dimension is sister company A&G Land & Property, launched in 2022, which enables executors – who may live hundreds of miles away – to entrust the sale of a home and its contents to one team.

Fred says: “It came from conversations with solicitors who would say, ‘You’ve dealt with everything in the house, why can’t you sell the house as well?’

“Now, somebody can hand us the keys and we can look after everything.

“For families and executors, particularly at a difficult time, that can make life considerably easier.”

Taken together, it is an increasingly comprehensive offer that Fred and Alison intend to build upon as Anderson & Garland begins the march towards its bicentenary.

Alison adds: “We’ve got 13 years until we reach 200, and there’s a lot we want to achieve.

“But we want to do it in the right way – taking our team and our clients with us and making sure we never lose sight of who we are.”

To find out more about Anderson & Garland, and to learn about its full suite of services, visit the website and LinkedIn page at the top of this article.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by N Magazine .