Introducing our June 21 Online Only Auction

Welcome to our fifth national auction of the year, again a catalogue filled with over 200 lots of varying price and type, located throughout the country.  This sale takes us to well over 1,160 lots offered so far this year and with our sales already exceeding £104 Million in value, it goes to demonstrate more than ever a strong, confident and active market.

We now approach the summer months and with this sale being held on 22nd / 23rd June, it could well be that the current Covid restrictions are over, we all live in hope for a speedy return to “normality”.

The pandemic has changed so many things, not least, the way we and all other property auctioneers have adapted and changed our business to an online only platform.  For some, this will be the way forward for the future and I am sure we shall see many auctioneers never return to a physical auction venue, pick up an actual gavel and sell property in this way.  Clearly this works but, we believe does have limitations.  I thought I would share with you a brief outline of our plan and the shape of our auction sales in a post Covid world. 

Clearly all of this will be subject to government restrictions and most importantly, we won’t do anything that may place our buyers and sellers in an environment that is not safe and fully compliant with all the legislative requirements.

So for this sale and until further notice we shall remain with the online platform however, almost since we moved to this, we have been working in the background preparing for the future.  What we won’t do is place any bidder at an unfair advantage, or indeed disadvantage, based upon how they choose to bid, but instead there will always be a choice.

So, whilst we shall be returning to venue sales as soon as possible, access to bidding at these auctions will be unlimited.  For those that choose to come to our venue and experience the excitement and thrill of bidding at a live auction this will be available but in a safe and secure environment.  For these customers, we very much look forward to welcoming you back to our new venue and actually meeting our buyers.  Online bidding will however continue for those who enjoy the convenience of this, cannot travel on the auction day or would simply prefer not to. 

The sale will be live streamed alongside internet bidding so internet bidders will be able to gain a sense of the auction venue experience even though physically not in the room.  The bidding platform will change slightly and when launched, we will provide tutorials and guidance on bidding and of course my team will be on hand to help.  Telephone and proxy bidding has always been available at our sales and this will continue as normal. 

Much has changed over the last 12 plus months, including the tightening of regulations and procedures we have to follow to comply with anti-money laundering rules.  Bidder registration will remain online however for those attending the auction, iPads will be available to complete this on the day if you haven’t managed to pre-register. 

I am aware that many customers and clients are frustrated by the requirements to keep producing ID, however they are a legal requirement and are there for your protection.  If, for example, we failed to comply with the regulations and authorities wished to investigate a particular transaction, your purchase or sale could be delayed as a result, so the requirements are there as much for consumer protection as they are for anti-money laundering detection.

That is a taste of things to come.  In the meantime I hope you enjoy reading this catalogue and find lots of interest. This is again an online sale so you must complete your bidder registration as soon as possible.  My team as always are here to assist with all your enquiries in the lead up to the sale.

Stay safe and stay well, we hope to see you at our auction venue very soon and for now, wish you the very best of luck with your on line bidding at our June auction.