Centre of auction excellence opens in Exeter

Bearnes Hampton & Littlewood has announced that it is greatly expanding its saleroom facilities in Exeter to form a centre of auction excellence, having acquired the remainder of St Edmund's Court in Okehampton Street in Exeter for the purpose. From January 2014, Bearnes Hampton & Littlewood will be conducting all its auction business from one premises. 

The St Edmund's Court building that Bearnes Hampton & Littlewood are expanding into will provide office space for the specialist fine art departments, freeing up space in the existing building to enlarge the existing salerooms and add a further large auction room.

Richard Bearne, Chairman of Bearnes Hampton & Littlewood, commented: "The acquisition of additional space is an exciting opportunity to move the business forward under one roof and with all our specialist expertise in one place. When the two auction practices of Bearnes and Hampton & Littlewood merged in 2009, we had hoped to find a single building in which to operate, but none were then available. We then moved to Honiton, which has served us well, but with a suitable space in Exeter now available, this is a unique opportunity to create a centre of excellence".

Auctions will continue in Honiton until the end of 2013, after which the staff from Honiton will be working in Exeter. 

A spokesperson for Bearnes Hampton & Littlewood said: "We will continue to hold regular valuation mornings in Honiton, as well as in Sidmouth, where our various specialists will attend on a weekly basis. Home visits in the area will, of course, still be available.

"The sale schedule for next year will be fast and furious with an auction being held every week. We will be holding four quarterly fine art sales, two specialist book sales, a maritime sale, two sporting and collectors sales, regular silver auctions and jewellery sales as well as selected picture sales - in addition to our weekly antiques and collectables auctions.

"Being under one roof will bring together the huge wealth of experience that we possess as an auction house and make us a stronger team moving forward into the future. We very much hope it will also make your visits to our wonderful new auction complex a more exciting and pleasurable experience."