The UK’s biggest property auctioneer is considering whether to bring its sales back into the auction room in the near future. 

Managing director Jeremy Prior said that any decision to move away from either livestream or online sales – which have been the only method of buying and selling through the group during the pandemic – will have to be carefully considered. He explained: “Livestream sales have been spectacularly successful for us – even more so than we could ever have imagined. Not only have our success rates gone up, but we are seeing three to four times the number of people engaging with our auctions as we did when sales were held in the room, both in terms of registered bidders and others simply interested in watching and experiencing the excitement of the auction process. Many younger people have become involved whilst the numbers of our regular customer-base have remained unchanged.” 

Auction House analysis indicates that there has been a 10% increase in the engagement of 18-24-year-olds with its sales, and a 5% increase in the 25-34 age category during the pandemic, whilst the engagement by those aged over 65 has stayed exactly the same. Prior added: “We need to take care not to disrupt this new demographic won over the course of the Covid crisis – and there’s a risk that a return to room only auctions might do just that.”