After just one year of trading, Elstob & Elstob has relocated to new premises in order to meet a rising demand for its services.
Elstob & Elstob launched its auction and valuation business in January last year.
Twelve months later, the number of items being presented for sale has risen to such an extent that the auction house has moved from its initial home at Bedale Hall to a premier site on the outskirts of Ripon.
The move will enable the auction house to increase both the number and volume of its sales and streamline operational efficiency.
David Elstob said:
We have been delighted by the phenomenal success of the business.
Our time at Bedale Hall has been wonderful but we have now outgrown the space and want to be able to offer an expanded service to our clients.
It will also be far more efficient to have everything under the one roof − something that was not logistically possible at Bedale − and the new location is very easy to access from across the region with plenty of free parking for our weekend sales.
It is exactly a year since we opened for business and the move is a very positive way to celebrate our first anniversary. We would like to thank everyone for their incredible support during the last 12 months and we look forward to welcoming new and old customers to the new premises.
As a result of the move, the auction house will be increasing the number of Fine Art and Antiques sales in the coming year from four to six, together with at least two specialist sales of silver, jewellery, watches and objects of vertu. This follows a specialist jewellery sale held at Newby Hall in December.
David Elstob said:
We are seeing an ever-increasing growth in Internet sales, a trend that started a few years ago but continues to grow apace.
This has given rise to a more global market place and regional salerooms like our own can now access wider and greater audiences and compete on a more level playing field with the larger city-based auction houses.
Widespread use of the Internet has also led to a mushrooming demand for more detailed online information in the form of high-quality images, videos and comprehensive condition reports, and, to be successful, auction houses will need to keep abreast of technological advancements to showcase individual lots to their full potential and stimulate bids.
With this in mind, Elstob & Elstob’s new premises will be equipped with state-of-the-art viewing tablets where clients can instantly access information on individual lots instead of relying on environmentally costly paper catalogues. The auction house is also looking to introduce live bidding through its own website, as a supplement to the generic service provided by saleroom.com and liveauctioneers.com.
