Company’s major expansion into new premises
800 LOTS TO GO UNDER THE HAMMER AFTER CLEAR-OUT
THE Potters Auction Saleroom is to undergo a major expansion with the opening of a new saleroom in an historic North Lincolnshire building and a plan to double the number of auctions the business stages.
The headquarters and main saleroom of the company is to be moved from the current premises on Trafford Street in Scunthorpe to The Old School in the village of Messingham, an Edwardian-period building that has undergone an impressive restoration in recent years.
Meanwhile, the firm’s existing saleroom in Trafford Street and the nearby Showroom 2 are to be retained and will remain operational, hosting a new series of monthly household and general auctions.
The firm’s search for larger premises has been underway for some time. The remarkable growth of the business and the increasing size of auctions have made us ever more desperate for space but we did not want to end up in an anonymous factory unit on an edge of town industrial estate with limited parking.
The Old School at Messingham, built 118 years ago to provide education for generations of local children, will we believe provide a superb saleroom with real character – a centre that will open up a world of opportunities for us to continue expanding our services and enhance the overall experience of both auction buyers and vendors.
Preparatory work for the move is already under way ahead of the opening of the new facility in June. The plan is to stage the first auction in Messingham towards the end of the June.
Meanwhile, all this activity means that the situation in Trafford Street ahead of the May auction is, shall we say, interesting! (Even Harry, the saleroom’s canine greeter, head of security and mascot, is finding it difficult to move around.)
In total the auction on Saturday, May 18, will extend to around 800 lots and has been mainly created by the big clear-out and reorganisation under way at the two showrooms and involves stock and goods that have been awaiting their turn to make it into an auction.
It is not an auction that is packed with high-value antiques and works of art but the sale does include a great mass of useful stuff – ceramics, ornaments, furniture, pictures, collectables and the like.
Almost all of it is being sold without reserve, so it will make what it makes. If there is what you’re looking for, the last main auction at 53-55 Trafford Street could be memorable.
The catalogue for the auction will be available on the firm’s website shortly (www.pottersauction.co.uk). The auction on Saturday, May 18, is to be live online.