In 2016 Andy Spicer was appointed saleroom manager at DAH Auctions in Driffield East Yorkshire. With over 40 years as an auctioneer and valuer at the internationally renowned auction houses Phillips and Bonhams. Andy took on his new role with great enthusiasm and experience, he then put his heart and soul into building up the business and eventually rebranding under his ownership as Spicer's Auctioneers.

By early 2017 the number of auctions had increased as had the average price per lot. Buyers were keen to attend auctions and vendors were starting  to see great results.  Our analytics through Google and other platform tools demonstrate that this is continuing to be the case.  2017 also saw the start of the classic car and motorcycle auctions at Sledmere House. Still being held three times a year, though now at our fabulous new premises we can show and sell on site, we have added more viewing days enabling a pleasant experience for business and social networking. The classic car, motorcycle and automobilia auctions are a regular feature, awareness and success being more widely shared. They have added another dimension to our auction calendar locally, drawn together a range of enthusiasts, owners and collectors, the thrills of the live auction experience, smell of oil, engines being fired up and the hope perhaps, of going home with a dream machine or some funds to spend on a new project! 

Andy's knowledge and passion for raising the profile of the business was driving the saleroom forward so, when presented with the chance to buy the the auction house he realised it was an opportunity not to be missed, he could build his own company and settle in Yorkshire as the owner of Spicer's Auctioneers. Still focussed on growth and quality Andy realised he needed to improve the overall service to meet his clients expectations and business efficiency, he needed new technology. The office management procedures had to be overhauled, new IT systems and software, building the website, online platform presence and communication tools to engage with more clients locally as well as globally. Spicer's was making a name for itself but also outgrowing the premises in Driffield, it was time for a move but where to?

In the summer of 2020 Andy and wife Barbara, found the perfect location for Spicer's Auctioneers Ltd at the old Waterways Museum in Goole. Though still located in the East Riding of Yorkshire, the new premises at Dutch River Side in the docklands area of the town, were an hour's car journey from Driffield saleroom. The road networks links were better as the site is very close to the M62, A1, M18 and M1 as well as within easy reach of major cities like Sheffield, Doncaster, Leeds, Hull, York and Manchester by road or rail. 

The Waterways Salerooms are perfect for Spicer's growing business. They are bright, spacious rooms and reception area, along with improved security, communications and fabulous surroundings. The building has biomass and solar powered heating, accessible toilets, car parking and great storage, all mod cons! Now, with a growing team of enthusiastic and talented staff, trained and developed by Andy, Barbara, Ian and associates in the auction business, national and international buyers from Guernsey to Germany, Aberdeen to Australia, Manchester to Mexico. Vendors consigning arcadia, antiques, Bentley's, bronzes, vintage vinyl and Vespers our slogan couldn't be more true: Variety is the Spicer's life! 

It's taken time to settle in what with Coronavirus, new staff and premises. Auctions are back to being well attended and our online audience grows weekly, click and collect, online bidding, payment and courier collections have become the norm.  Viewing day visitors are achieving increasing numbers as are condition requests, though great improvements in our photography and cataloguing has inevitably helped the business grow. 

Our small business welcomes visitors, whether dropping in for valuations and consignments, collecting won lots or just to see auctions develop, so instead of us being squirrelled away sorting, listing and selling in seclusion, our doors may be flung open so we can all enjoy the lovely surroundings, chat to owners of boats on the moorings or just to feed the ducks. 

On auction days, the once empty Saleroom is a lively room with a great atmosphere.

Buyers and sellers regularly receive auction updates when we have news, if you would like to hear more about our auctions then joining our mailing list is a great way for us to keep in occasional touch, you can choose topics you prefer to hear about and unsubscribe any time, we don't share information with anyone else.

 All of the auctions are hosted online and selling across three platforms with over 80% of the lots offered being bought by internet buyers.  The internet produces very strong bidders and underbidders which has resulted in a significant lift in the average price per lot achieved and less unsold lots. In 2016 the average lot value in a Home Furnishing auction was £25, today it is in the region of £120/150 and the selling rate is regularly now over 90%.

The Classic and Vintage Car & Motorcycle auctions generate interesting entries coming from across England, Wales and Scotland. We have become the largest Classic Motorcycle auctioneer in the North of England and have the record, at £48,500, for the most expensive motorcycle sold at auction in the region.

Meet the Saleroom Team

Andy Spicer ASFAV

Director, Valuer and Auctioneer

07469 956936
andy@spicersauctioneers.com

Barbara Spicer

Hi, If you've signed up to receive news about our auctions then it will be me that tells you all about the wildlife, the weather, the staff and how lucky we are to be in the old museum building in Goole on the canal, next to the marina, a cafe and a pub!

I also organise the staffing, catalogue promotions, online connectivity and website content. 

Andy and I were married in 2019 on the Isles of Scilly just off the Cornish coast, we've been working together ever since. I gave up my long term position in the public sector in July 2022 to work here full time and what a contrast, from being a home worker promoting nature for twenty years to being an auction house general manager, seeing lots of people pass through our doors and engage with the business, reaching out to inform customers all over the world and selling cuckoo clocks!

Some days I'm promoting auctions on Facebook others I'm with Andy or one of the team at an exhibition or show. I may be recruiting new staff or clarifying our postage charges or payment procedures on the bidding platforms. I've recently taken to the rostrum and regularly sell furniture, cameras and jewellery, sometimes with the odd terrible joke thrown in, and regularly stopping Andy from buying things we don't need! 

I also like to be involved in the Vintage Clothing and charity side of the business. We are, as auctioneers, the best recyclers, reducers and re-users. Helping the environment through our choices, helping local and small businesses through our purchases and sometimes being able to help those who just need some understanding when they are left making lots of hard choices on their own.

As you'll read below, no two days are the same, though for the third day running I have five boxes of hats in my office, three straw chickens and a silk christening gown! All adding to the quirkiness of auction life. Hat anyone?

 Ian Almond 

I have worked for Spicer’s from the start of the company being officially taken over by Andy, but prior to that with the founding auction business DAH, Dee Atkinson, Harrison. Altogether I have been in the industry for around 17 years. Starting as a porter my interests and knowledge grew and I am the Saleroom Manager here in Goole. I regularly provide advice at valuation events and in house appraisals as well as ensuring we're auction ready. Auction events have grown from having  two a month to just about every Friday! 

What I like the most about working here is the stress and pressure of getting an auction ready, said no manager ever, but when it all comes together, the salerooms look great, the lots are all online and condition requests are bids start coming in, you always get a real thrill, hoping that all the hard work will come off, the vendors will achieve great results, buyers from all over the world suddenly hear of Goole and the team have done what they're great at. Ensuring lots from one auction go out to customers and taking entries for the next in is a constant challenge, but we do get to see some amazing items. No day is ever the same here, one day we might get some lovely 'Mouseman' oak or quality antique ceramics and clocks, the next day we get some really cool vintage toys or arcade machines closely followed by house clearance items such as lawn mowers and washing machines. Variety really is the Spicers’s life as you'll see and hear mentioned, we also have another saying amongst the staff, 'We'll get there in the end' and we always do!

To pin point the most memorable item sold over my years of working here would be hard. Every auction has a few surprises, in August 2023 in the quarterly antique and fine auction had a lot described in the catalogue as a 19th/20th century box and cover with Arabic inscription, the cover cast with a central medallion bordered by a continuous foliate scroll, 14 x 5cm. We can't know everything and the vendor had no high expectations, some things are really difficult to date. I opened the live bidding at £150 which was then led by pre-bids up to £600, the automation then stopped and the battle commenced through 75 further bids with the little box eventually sold for 56 times the bottom estimate at £8,600. Further information since leads us to believe it is a Chinese Ming Dynasty Seal box. Fantastic news for our vendor, certainly one of those astonishing auction flyers we often hear about but seldom get the opportunity to experience.

Over my time in the business I have seen many unusual items come through our doors but one from my early days still stands out, an 18th century, Chinese jar of pickled snake! Something I have never seen since thank goodness. Imagine unpacking that - crazy to see! I have always enjoyed Antiques since I was a kid, me and my dad would always go looking for them and now I am in the business it is as if I am getting to live out my childhood dream, better still, I get paid for it! 

When someone asks what type of auction house is Spicer’s? I'd say a friendly, family run business, we are all part of the successes and challenges, we learn from each other and listen to our customers and it has the best location, in a great building and, most importantly, if you're constantly emptying and filling the saleroom, no steps!  

Bobby Cartwright 

I have worked for Spicers since finishing my apprenticeship training in customer services with them in September 2022. Learning all aspects of the business through my college course has given me a good background in how the whole business works and how customers, whether buyers or vendors, keep the auction business moving along. I didn't realise until I started working here that the business doesn't own anything we sell. I've since branched out and now do nearly all the photography for the auctions, I'm really passionate about getting good quality, clear images, to help present products for auction, my favourite things to photograph are the watches and jewellery, it's so important to have good images when so many goods are bought online without being viewed in person.

I love working at Spicers and all it has to offer, it feels like a family business, even my mum and dad help out on some sale days. The main thing I enjoy about working here is just seeing the different variety of items we get to sell in the auction house. From vintage jewellery, furniture to the classic cars and motor bikes we get. There is always something different happening here, there are no two days the same. 

One of the most memorable events was being involved in the first off site Bike auction that took place at Fishlake, near Doncaster. On a freezing cold January day we set up in a marquee, hoping everything would work and people would come, despite the fog, and they did! The whole process of setting it up at the vendors business was such a fantastic experience and to top it all off, we had a very successful day! 

The most unusual item I have come across whilst being here would have to be the Hermaphrodite Mannequin. It was once used as a teaching aid for the research into human organs and was just not what I was expecting to see in an auction when I first arrived. 

When you say the words ’Spicers’ to me the first thing that pops into mind is our slogan ‘Variety is a Spicer's life’ 

 Sandra Hodgson 

I have worked for Spicers since November 2022 and the main thing I love about this place is the fact that we are one big family! We have some great times together and some very big laughs. We all respect one an other and each others individual talents. It is just a great place to work. Getting to know regular buyers who visit, helping people with the bidding or postal processes so they have a great experience is really rewarding.

Sticking out as memorable for me are the car auctions, we get some very cool cars in to sell, they all need to be moved around for viewing or photographs so I love it when I'm asked to drive them, this can sometimes be a challenge as the really old ones are hard to put in gear and absolutely no power steering!

If you asked me what the most unusual job I've been asked to do since I've been here it would probably be being asked to model a vintage wedding dress!! The photographs on the dummy just weren't doing it justice, it was a lovely sunny day and a blue sky backdrop really brought out the style and material of the era. It fit perfectly! I wasn’t already married, I would definitely consider wearing it. 

When I hear the word ’Spicers’ the first thing that comes to mind is a friendly, inviting place full of treasures! 

Cheryl Morritt

I have worked for Spicers since October 2021 and I LOVE IT! The most amazing thing about this company is the family environment it has created. It is like my home away from home. Everyone is so welcoming and lovely, we all get on and have fun even when it's really busy. I'm the caretaker, maker of drinks, a regular job, and I also help with unpacking boxes, putting lot numbers on auction items and regularly help with the telephone bids on sale day. I enjoy talking to people, although briefly, from all around the world and feel so excited when my phone bidder wins their lot! 

The most memorable moment, I would have to say would be the sale of 'The Dam Busters’ poster. I helped photograph it, thinking it was just a normal poster. But when it went up for auction, I cannot believe the amount of bids we had for it! The hammer eventually went down and the poster reached over £3000!! I was absolutely amazed! 

I wouldn’t say my item is unusual but i found it so cool that it always sticks in my brain as one of the best things to come through our door. We once got a full Merry go round and Ferris wheel made out of Meccano. They were HUGE! And having kids of my own I just knew they would love it so I went out and bought some for them! 

When someone says the word ’Spicers’ to me … I instantly think of our saying ’Variety is a Spicer’s life’ 

Logan Jones

Started as an apprentice here in January 2023 doing a course on customer service with East Riding College. I am now employed on full time contract. What I love the most about working here is the working environment. Everyone gets along with each other and helps each other out. It is like our own little family. I started generally helping out and learning about the business but now I help with all sorts of tasks, from unpacking boxes and photography to assisting the auctioneers with clerking for the online bidding that takes place on auction day.

The most memorable moment I have whilst I have been here has to be the first car and motor bike auction that I attended. There were 300 plus people around the auction house. The whole place was buzzing, it's such a wonderful location and fabulous to meet up with fellow buyers and perhaps enjoy a burger from the van that comes or even spam and eggs!! It was such an incredible experience to be a part of and to see how an auction works first hand from behind the scenes, it was an eye opening experience. 

You see so many different items here that are all weird and wonderful things that picking one unusual item is so hard. But one item that does stick in my mind, we got a microscope come through and it came with loads of different samples that we got to look at through the lens, it was fascinating looking at the slides, things like heart and lungs. Even a dog fish sample! 

If I think of a word to describe Spicer's the first that comes to mind is diverse! 

Courtney Coulbeck

Courtney joined us in October 2023 to assist with the postal demands of online bidding. Courtney was already working part-time in her father's business, much of this involved the shipping of Land Rover parts so her role here proved to be very different when we asked her to perfect the art of packing and shipping tiny pieces of jewellery, china and cameras! Courtney has a very adaptable approach to her role as sometimes she has a mountain of post to pack and send and none at others, depending on where we are in our auction calendar, so she helps with the timed auctions, reception, banking, car auctions and collections.

Alex Alec-Smith - Book Consultant

New to auctioneering, I have been in the second hand antiquarian book trade for thirty plus years.

I look forward to working further with Spicer's!

Robbie Cumming from Narrowboat Diaries visited Spicer's before he set off on a new adventure and filming for the 2022 tv series.