Maidenhead auction house opens doors to new home

A Maidenhead-based auction house has opened the doors to its new home in the town having experienced significant business growth.

Dawsons, which was located on the Kings Grove Estate for more than five years, moved to its new premises on Cordwallis Business Park in Clivemont Road on January 15.

The 12,000 sq ft unit – three times larger than the previous site – represents a £500,000 investment by the auction house, which also has a valuation office located in Hampstead, London.

Dawsons managing director Aubrey Dawson and commercial director Pete Liggins said that the pandemic had been a catalyst in helping the company to reach a wider online audience, which has resulted in ‘phenomenal growth’.

“In March 2020 there was a bit of a shockwave that went through the auction world. There was concern that the pandemic might restrict work to such an extent that auction houses would cease to trade,” said Pete.

“We made a brave decision to take our auctions completely online very soon after the first lockdown, and haven’t looked back. We have adapted to a new digital way of working and adopted bespoke marketing that targets a huge global audience of potential buyers.”

The shift to online auctions and targeted digital marketing has enabled Dawsons to grow its international client base – it now deals with customers in more than 130 countries (pre-pandemic this was 60), while its turnover has risen from £2.5million to £4.5million this financial year.

Aubrey said: “It has taken considerable effort to get to this stage in our growth and development as a business, and it must be mentioned that we have a great team here at Dawsons who have all worked tirelessly to get us here.

“We have spent a lot of time, money and effort in making it [the new base] a fantastic environment both for staff to work in and for clients to visit. Most importantly, it is design-led to cater for customer needs.

“If you look at some auction houses, live auctions are still being streamed on mobile phones.

"Here at Dawsons on the other hand, we have invested in a state of the art media room which broadcasts from multiple camera angles in order to ensure a highly polished broadcast.”

Pete added: “Essentially broadcasting an auction is similar to screening a television show, and we want to stand out from the crowd. It is all about delivering a fantastic customer experience in everything that we do.”

Dawsons’ new Clivemont Road base includes bespoke auction technology, 'luxurious' viewing and valuation areas, and also a dedicated streaming room.

“We very much see Maidenhead as our home. We do have local clients, and we are certainly invested in the area - here to help the residents of Maidenhead and surrounding areas,” added Aubrey.

Dawsons has hit the headlines recently for a number of high-profile auction results; including an early Rolling Stones promotional poster, which sold for a world record £30,000 in October.

And last month, a rare French Art Deco pendant sold for £39,500 at the first auction held at the new premises on January 27.

An autograph book signed by famous musical icons including The Beatles is also set to go under the hammer this week. 

“There really is no need to go in to London in order to engage with a high quality auction house,” Pete said.

“We have made huge strides as a business and now have a superb home in Maidenhead with customer needs at its core – we would love to welcome new clients from Berkshire and surrounding counties.”

Every month Dawsons will be holding dedicated fine art, antiques and jewellery auctions at the new home. Visit www.dawsonsauctions.co.uk for more information.