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.
We are pleased to announce that we have acquired the remainder of St Edmunds Court, Okehampton Street, Exeter and from January 2014 will be conducting our auction business from one premises. The remainder of the building was previously occupied by a department of Devon County Council, which has now been incorporated into County Hall.
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".
Being under one roof also means that we are able to extend the saleroom space that is currently in place. The specialist departments will be moving into the new part of the building, creating a new saleroom upstairs in the current premises. We will also be extending the existing two salerooms so they will become even bigger and better.
Auctions will continue in Honiton until the end of 2013, after which the staff from Honiton will be working in Exeter. 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.
- Bearnes Hampton & Littlewood
