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22 July 2009 |
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| The antique fair is one event bucking the trend. Expoabc investigates. |
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A few months ago Caroline Penman, the head of Penman Antiques Fairs, organisers of the Chelsea Arts and Antiques Fair started noticing a curious trend. Shows were getting very busy, queues were forming, and exhibitors were telling her they were selling one in four items.
Penman runs four mid-sized consumer fairs across the country selling mainly pre-20th century vetted antiques. They have a loyal following, but function mainly by word-of-mouth. So it is not surprising that she was taken a little off-guard by the upsurge in buyers coming to the shows waving chequebooks. “We are busier than ever,” Penman declares sounding ever so-slightly bemused.
“Buyers say that keeping money in the bank is useless at the moment because of the low interest rates so they want to buy something they can enjoy and which will also hold or increase its value,” she says by way of explanation for her sudden good fortune.
Her experience is mirrored by the director of Nelson Fairs’ Peter Barrows, who runs three mid-sized shows in London and Newmarket every year. He tells expoabc: “Last September we were wondering what the future would hold, but by February our sales were up 25 per cent at the London show and 20 per cent in Newmarket.” Barrows is now trying to increase his portfolio but says although sales and visitors are up, exhibitors are not. “Antiques shows have to have a stringent vetting process so growing the number of exhibitors, while maintaining quality, can be difficult.” He hopes, however, if interest in antiques remains this high, exhibitors will want to show at multiple locations throughout the year.
Barrows may get his wish. According to The Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors’ Arts and Antiques Survey for the first quarter of 2009, there has been a change in fortune for the arts and antiques sector as buyers re-enter the market looking for alternative investment opportunities. Despite a depressed housing market, the sale of antique furniture has seen a turnaround, with 12 per cent of chartered surveyors reporting a rise in all auction lot prices, compared to 40 per cent reporting a fall in Q4 2008. |
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The start of the year has seen renewed interest in traditional fine arts and antiques. Buyers are also looking to the lower end of the market with lots under £5,000 continuing to perform exceptionally well. |
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Confidence is high with 39 per cent of chartered surveyors anticipating an increase in demand over the coming months as homeowners clear out garages and seasonal art and antique fairs revive interest in the market. RICS spokesperson, Jeremy Lamond says: “The start of the year has seen renewed interest in traditional fine arts and antiques. Buyers are also looking to the lower end of the market with lots under £5,000 continuing to perform exceptionally well.”
Mathew Adams has been running one-day fairs in at the Royal Horticultural Hall for over 20 years. He also runs the Frock Me! vintage fashion fair and the newly launched Frock Me at Home! vintage, retro and nostalgia fair in west London. “If I didn’t read the papers I wouldn’t know there was a crisis on. People who would previously buy only at the premium auction houses are now coming to the shows – I ask them how it feels to be slumming it.”
The nature of dealing in antiques with its stringent vetting, period specialisations and inherent scarcity of the product means that a lot of antiques fairs in the UK tend to be small or mid-sized with around 100 exhibitors.
The Olympia International Arts and Antiques Fair, organised by Clarion Events, is one of the exceptions. Held in June, it is now in its 36th year and attracts over 30,000 private buyers and curators, 260 of the world’s best known dealers and galleries and has the largest floor space of any antiques show in London.
“This year is bigger than ever for us,” says the fair’s Freya Simms. “We have been growing steadily and now have 200 of the top names in the international business showing, and a five per cent increase in the numbers of buyers. Last year we had 35,000 people at the show.” Simms agrees the lower-end of the market has seen the lion’s share of the growth but insists that the high-end has seen an upswing as well.
“We have been marketing aggressively in the US and Europe because of the weak pound and they now find doing business here 30 per cent cheaper in many cases.
“All the increases we have seen have been the top dealers and buyers in the world, who we have been actively courting for a while, yet this is the year, with all the economic troubles, they decide to come.” Simms experience is similar to organisers of smaller shows. And like her, they too can hardly believe their luck. |
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