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Chiswick Auctions has taken on a trio of books specialists from Bloomsbury Auctions as the west London saleroom kicks off 2018 with a new sales programme.

A precedent-setting legal dispute over a $10m (£7.2m) fee relating to the 2014 sale of a $210m Paul Gauguin painting has been won by auctioneer turned art adviser Simon de Pury.

Lucie Rowe, who started her career with Cirencester auction house Moore Allen & Innocent 15 years ago as a part-time saleday porter, has been promoted to her first management position: assistant saleroom manager.

Former Christie’s vintage poster specialists Nicolette Tomkinson and Sophie Churcher have teamed up with Lyon & Turnbull to launch dedicated auctions this year.

Derbyshire-based Hansons Auctioneers is opening a London saleroom, with plans to host fine art and antiques auctions once a month from February 2018.

With the closure of Christie’s South Kensington in July and restructuring at parent company Christie’s, many former staff were on the move in 2017. But, as this selection suggests, they were not the only ones trading places.

LAPADA has reached outside the art and antiques sector for its new chief executive, appointing the former publishing director of Tatler magazine, Patricia Stevenson.

When is parachuting in a leader from outside an industry a good idea?

Lee Young, Asian art specialist and international director at Lyon & Turnbull, is joining Duke’s of Dorchester in December. He will assume the role of managing director.

Not many new faces at salerooms can include among their experience “a trained horse whisperer”.