In a statement read out at the end of the final event on January 15, she told exhibitors that she was forced to close by an increase in rent.
She said: “Every year the Royal Borough of Kensington & Chelsea have increased the town hall rent, but it has now reached a point where we can no longer absorb the rising costs or pass them on to exhibitors.
“The fair has run at a loss for the past three years and cannot continue to do so. We have tried to negotiate with the Town Hall, but they will not be moved. We faced the choice of either raising the price of stands by 25 per cent or stopping the fair. This is a very sad day, after 31 years.”
This may be a sad day for Penman Antiques Fairs, but it will have little effect on the overall London fairs scene. West London has become a less important fixture over the years and even without the rent problem its future would have been in some doubt.
Although it is doubtful that another a multi-day fair will be held at Kensington Town Hall, one-day fairs have not seen a rent increase at the W8 venue.
Penman closes West London fair
AFTER 31 years Caroline Penman has axed her original London fixture, the West London Antiques Fair, which has been held at Kensington Town Hall every January since 1976.
