Auctioneer retires after 50 years in the trade (From Malvern Gazette)
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Auctioneer retires after 50 years in the trade
3:31pm Wednesday 18th July 2007 in News By Tarik Al Rasheed
Philip Laney who will be using the gavel & block for the last time at Portland Road.
AFTER half a century in the business, Malvern auctioneer extraordinaire Philip Laney feels the time is right for a change.
On Tuesday, 50 years after he conducted his first auction at Worcester Market, Mr Laney will preside over the last sale at his Malvern Auction Centre, in Portland Road.
Mr Laney has conducted hundreds of auctions worth several million pounds at the centre since it was built almost 30 years ago, and he will take many fond memories away with him.
"I will certainly miss it, although I think it's the people that matter more than the place," he said. "The friendships that I have made over the years are the things that have made it worthwhile."
Mr Laney picked up his interest in antiques from his parents, and knew from an early age that he wanted to be an auctioneer.
He came to Malvern in 1964 after qualifying as an auctioneer and surveyor with Worcester firm Arthur G Griffith and Sons, and has lived and worked in the town ever since, forming Philip Laney and Jolly in 1968 before dividing the partnership to concentrate on the auction centre in 1990.
He is now taking up a consultancy role with Doorbars chartered surveyors in Worcester, but still looks forward to presiding over the occasional auction.
"I'll still be doing the same sort of things, just not at the same rate," he said. "I'm basically winding down a bit so I can do some of the things I have always wanted to do."
Despite acquiring a vast knowledge of antiques and collectable over the years, Mr Laney admits he is not a particularly keen collector. However even after 50 years and countless auctions his enthusiasm for a sale has never waned.
"At any given sale the majority of the items are all things you will have seen before, but there is usually something that surprises you," he said. "There's also a little bit of theatre about conducting a sale, and that is something I enjoy."
