No more auctions or viewing in London for Holt's. Henceforth all Holt's auctions will take place at their Norfolk premises on the Sandringham estate.
Diggory has written a good piece on it here: https://www.vintageguns.co.uk/magazine/ ... don-london
On a personal level I view this as a shame. Now driving up to Norfolk will involve a degree of planning and preparation, as well as extra expense. However, I have to admit to not visiting Holt's much since they moved away from Hammersmith a couple of years ago. I went to the Blackheath location once, which was enough and did not make it to Kensington the one time I wanted to go earlier this year.
From Nick Holt's point of view it does all make a great deal of sense and, as Diggory points out, will likely save him around £100,000 per annum, so we can't blame him from a business perspective. Besides, so much now takes place via the internet that he is merely reflecting changing habits from his clients.
I have also to speculate that the move may reflect a declining market place for our guns. I have noticed that the key auctions over the last two years have carried fewer quality side by sides than was the case even five years ago. It now seems that shoot reports in the sporting press show photos where the SxS is the exception rather than the rule.
How do you view this development?
Tim
