1. Stephen Whitaker, managing director, Fellows (£13.5m
"Internet live bidding purchases rose to £3.9m, an increase of 11% on the previous year.
"One of the greatest challenges facing us are the number of online bidders who suffer from buyer's remorse and fail to complete the transaction for a variety of excuses such as 'my cat stood on the keyboard', 'The person I had bought it for changed their mind', etc. "
2. Jeremy Pattison, managing director, Tennants (£12.5m
"It's a year since we opened the doors on The Garden Rooms. Over the past 13 months we have welcomed thousands of people through the doors, many of whom had never heard of Tennants before, nor been to an auction house."
"In 2016 we are looking forward to expanding our professional valuations department and have increased the number of consultants and agents we are working with throughout the country. These include two new departments, antiquities and classic cars and automobilia."
3. Paul Viney, chairman, Woolley & Wallis (£13.66m
"Our hammer turnover for 2015 represents a 17% fall over 2014. The vast majority of this was accounted for by the softening of the Asian market. The Chinese have become much more selective in their bidding and I imagine will continue to be so.
"Although I do not think 2016 will be an easy year, our plans for the coming year include increasing the staff in three of our departments."
4. George Bailey, chairman, Dreweatts-Bloomsbury (£21.3m
"Overall we are pleased with the results, which represents growth on the prior year. The Interiors' auctions at Donnington Priory were particularly strong, complemented by two successful house contents sales.
"Among the highlights of 2016 will be the auction of the Richard Burnett collection of early keyboard instruments, which takes place at Donnington Priory in early May."
5. Guy Schooling, managing director, Sworders (£7.2m)
"It was a challenging year as prices for most of what we sell continued to slide, be it silver and jewellery, caused by falling commodity prices, Chinese works of art, caused by the vagaries of their markets and the diminishing supply here, or traditional works of art and furniture caused a change in taste. Other than that it was fine!
"The good old days are over - the trouble is we did not recognise them until they were gone."
