1 How did you get your start?
I was born into a dealing family and so you could pick any date – for me though it was when I stood my first (June) Olympia aged 23 and made my very first sale, a Scottish multi-faceted sundial, to Axel Vervoordt who, magically, was always in before the doors were open!
2 You are also the head of CADA. What have you done to support your members this year?
Working with my committee we have offered our (not increased) subscription of £400 + VAT to be paid in instalments, providing adverts at no cost to them as in the ATG this week (see p42-44), brilliant PR from Gail McGuffie and constant support to promote CADA’s sole reason for being, which is to drive sales to our members.
3 What challenges are facing the trade in the coming months?
There are a few! For us at the CADA it was the need to postpone our fair, which will now be held in October 2021 at our new venue in the museum galleries of Compton Verney.
4 Who do you admire in the trade?
There are too many great dealers past and present. However, if pushed I would say the Clarke Brothers (Sean and Simon) of Christopher Clarke Antiques in Stow-on-the-Wold – the town incidentally where the CADA first started over 40 years ago.
5 Real ale or espresso martini?
Before it would probably have been both but now I would prefer to toast the CADA with a crisp white from the Loire.
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