Bonhams restructure London rooms as they celebrate Butterfields deal

The US acquisition and the London revamp are major developments in Bonhams’ ambitions to cement their position alongside Sotheby’s and Christie’s as the world’s third largest bricks-and-mortar art and antiques auction presence.

Chairman Robert Brooks told the Antiques Trade Gazette that the local markets would remain in the hands of their respective divisions in the US and UK, with the US arm continuing to operate under the Butterfields name, but they would come together to develop their presence on the international scene.

In London, meanwhile, he was candid that Bonhams’ Knightsbridge rooms, which are currently undergoing an extensive rebuilding programme, would take on Christie’s South Kensington head on, assimilating the full range of departments from Chelsea and Bayswater. Bonhams will continue to build the company brand at Knightsbridge and Bond Street, with Bayswater and Chelsea being used just for offices and storage other than the regular collectors sales at the latter. The last Bayswater furniture sale will be held in December.

James Knight, a director of the firm and one of Mr Brooks’ oldest business associates, has been appointed managing director of the enhanced Knightsbridge operation.

“Bonhams needs Butterfields and Butterfields needs Bonhams," said Mr Brooks, who revealed that the acquisition had, in fact been a long-term ambition of Bonhams ever since the two firms came together to form the IA (International Auctioneers) for cross-promotional purposes in the 1990s. He said he would take the US firm back to their traditional strengths as an auction house. He believes that by acquiring and building on one of the best known and most respected names in the business on the West Coast, Bonhams will not face the same issues as an outsider that rivals Christie’s underwent, culminating in them cutting back on their Los Angeles operation last October.

Despite undergoing a redundancy programme like Bonhams earlier this year, Butterfields shed mainly administrative staff from their San Francisco and Los Angeles businesses, leaving strength among the disciplines.

Mr Brooks was keen to emphasise the complementary range of expertise and specialisms across the two companies, now claiming global pre-eminence for Bonhams with arms and armour and stressing the greatly enhanced influence on the international scene that their combined wine and motoring departments will bring. Asian art is also one the combined company’s great strengths, he said.

As well as “closing the gap” on Christie’s and Sotheby’s globally, he anticipates that by acquiring Butterfields, Bonhams will be able to surpass them in terms of sales in certain fields. And he pointed to Bonhams’ jewellery totals so far this year, which he said had outperformed both rivals for the first quarter of 2002 and had remained ahead of Sotheby’s for the first half.

The administrative back-up in San Francisco is likely to be an advantage in getting business, and the legacy of eBay’s digital imaging technology may well enhance catalogues and marketing via the Internet as well as other business initiatives. The Butterfields property portfolio now gives Bonhams more square footage in the US than the UK, Mr Brooks revealed.

Surprisingly, for a company that was owned by eBay, Butterfields’ business operating system is fairly out of date, but Mr Brooks says that this is to both companies’ advantage as Bonhams will now be able to extend their own newly installed system, which they spent many months developing, to the US company, streamlining operations in a comparatively short time.

Whatever changes the acquisition of Butterfields may bring, Mr Brooks has not changed his views on where the battle for business success will be fought and won. “It’s still about getting the best price for the client. Better service and market share are the key.”