Auctioneers with lots to offer

NESTLING in the Wensleydale hills is a remarkable company that is taking on the biggest names of the international auction world.

Tennants, a family firm of auctioneers and valuers formed more than a century ago, has been growing steadily in recent years, taking advantage of the increasing popularity of collecting and the way the internet has made it more accessible to people the world over.

Now, it is preparing for the next stage of its expansion as major UK auction houses cut back on their regional outlets and turn away smaller lots, creating opportunities for those firms a little further down the ladder.

A third generation family business, Tennants is based in Leyburn, North Yorkshire, with offices in Harrogate and Oakham, Rutland, and a team of regional representatives throughout the UK.

It is run by brothers Rodney and John Tennant, whose grandfather established the business. For much of its history it dealt in a wide range of products, including wool and groceries. "It was," said Rodney Tennant, "a traditional Dales business."

However, in the late 1960s and 1970s, Rodney spent three years working in London and abroad, including the US, gaining experience of the fine art and auctioneering world.

He said: "I was smitten and became convinced that this was something we should concentrate on and about which I was passionate."

By that time, a number of the company's traditional business interests had been sold off and during the past three decades Tennants has placed great emphasis on developing as an auction house which can compete, at least to a degree, with big names such as Sotheby's, Christies and Bonhams.

As the company grew, it left its headquarters in Middleham to move, in 1991, to its purpose-built centre in neighbouring Leyburn. The building comprises three auction halls, a restaurant and parking for up to 600 cars. Last year, turnover was £8.2m and the firm employs 35 people.

Mr Tennant believes that central to the firm's success has been a mindset which allowed Tennants to regard itself as not just a regional auction house but an international one.

He said: "Our growth has been a steady process. Any business these days has to think globally, not look inward. It does not surprise me when I walk down our corridors to hear Russian, Chinese, German and Bosnian voices. I expect it. We have buyers from all over the world."

Those buyers are attracted by the range of items that the house handles for its regular auctions, with particular interest focused on the international catalogue sales held three times a year.

Among items in which Tennants specialises are paintings, antique furniture, clocks, taxidermy, militaria, toys, jewellery, stamps and books. Many of the items come in the form of whole collections from large houses, sometimes when the owners have died or moved into care.

According to public relations officer Andrea Marston, a key reason for Tennants' success is a commitment to specialist knowledge, provided by a number of expert valuers on the staff.

Mrs Marston said: "We have clients from all over the country and from abroad. We feel it is important that people know we know what we are selling, which is why we employ specialists. We see ourselves competing with Sothebys, Bonhams and Christies."

And Tennants' location in the Yorkshire Dales, far away from the bright lights, is not seen as a disadvantage.

Mrs Marston said: "We see our location as an advantage. There are not the car parking problems accompanied with towns and cities."

Mr Tennant said: "I think nothing of buyers coming to see us, or us going abroad to see them.

"We were recently visited by a US print dealer. We picked him up from Durham Tees Valley airport and brought him up here and he sat in the boardroom, and looked out over beautiful countryside and said 'why is the entire fine arts world not based here?'

"He did not have to worry about queuing at Heathrow Airport, struggling on the Underground or paying high London hotel rates."

There are other advantages. Recently, some of the large international houses have closed regional offices as they increasingly move into massive foreign markets such as the Middle and Far East.

Mr Tennant said: "There is scope for expansion. We can fill the vacuum. We are also looking at the bigger markets as well but we put the home market first. Bigger companies may close regional offices but we are here, we do not want to move and we won't move."

And Sotheby's, in London, recently announced that it would not take lots worth less than £3,000, which Tennants believes will bring more work in.

Mrs Marston said: "We expect there will be a knock-on effect. It will help us."

Also helping the business is the growing appeal of television programmes, such as the long-established Antiques Roadshow, and more recent shows Flog It! and Bargain Hunt.

Mrs Marston said: "People see these shows on television and realise that they can buy direct."

It all adds up to a relatively small company thinking on a large scale.

Mrs Marston added: "We are competing on an international level. We are not just a local auction house any more. It is a big business."

Mouseman furniture always in demand

One of the items that is proving as popular as ever is Mouseman furniture, first produced by Robert Thompson, of Kilburn, North Yorkshire.

Born in 1876, Thompson went on to develop his distinctive furniture, complete with mouse, and by 1934 was employing 30 craftsmen.

Today, the family firm of Robert Thompson's Craftsmen Limited still produces pieces from its base in Kilburn.

Tennants deals extensively in Mouseman pieces with customers including those from the US eager to snap up pieces.

Dianne Sinnott, head of decorative arts, said: "Mouseman is global now, not just Yorkshire. People see it as something traditional which they can use. It is very popular.

"Oak is in favour, people see it as practical, hand-constructed and simplified. Mouseman is fit for purpose and it does sell well in New York."

Many other items are popular as well, and part of Tennants' success has been based on its ability to spot things which tap into market trends, promoting them through its website or direct to collectors.

Toys are an example of items that can sell for high prices, as underlined by the world record price paid for a set of figures called Teddy Roosevelt on Safari.

The American Schoenhut Humpty Dumpty Toy Set No 20/84, dating from 1910, sold for 14,000 last month, the most a single toy has fetched at the auction room. It was bought by an English toy dealer with plans to return it to its native US.

In April, a painting by an Irish artist sold for a world record of 400,000, beating the previous 134,000 record for a Sean Keating work. It was bought by an Irish collector - Tennants had eight phone lines to Ireland open for the event.

On a saucier note, a collection of seaside postcards that could once be picked up for a few pence at resorts all over the country sold for a total of 55,000 last autumn.

Eighty-two original watercolour drawings by Donald McGill, who died in 1962, were part of a sale devoted to postcards, stamps, coins and cigarette cards. They included depictions of busty young women, fat old ladies, drunken, red-faced middle-aged men, honeymoon couples and vicars.