Operations Manager at International Antiques & Collectors Fairs (IACF), Rachel Evere
I started at IACF in 1993,
a er replying to an advert for a receptionist to provide maternity cover. I started doing more and soon moved into the operational side of things. Now I head up the ticketing and exhibiting side of the business for 34 fairs a year, including Peterborough, Shepton Mallet and Alexandra Palace, and the big trade fairs at Newark and Ardingly.
The job is full of variety,
and there’s quite a bit of travel involved as our team physically sets up each fair. We deal with contractors and liaise with the venue, and make sure health and safety requirements are met. At Newark, for example, there are eight buildings, 100 marquees and 500 to 600 outside pitches to cater for 2,000 dealers. At Peterborough, we go on site a week before the fair opens to get everything ready.
in contrast to antique furniture, but now the category is huge and our fairs a ract a lot of interior designers, and lm and theatre set designers looking for props. Dealers o er such a quirky range of antiques that can be used to create a set, a costume, or dress a location, from wooden carts and reindeer antlers, to big painted furniture and Wood and Sons Beryl Ware from the 1940s, which features on [BBC One’s]
Call the Midwife. For my own home I love anything French, from co ee bowls to mid 20th-century fabrics.
Italian tiles, c1900, £25 each, both from Mangan Antiques, were sold at Ardingly IACF antiques fair. This French toy sewing machine, £68, from The Washerwoman, was for sale at the Shepton Mallet IACF antiques fair.