A FORMER trainee has become one of the youngest directors of an auction house in the South West.
Auctioneer and valuer Joseph Trinder, aged 30, has returned to Wotton Auction Rooms where he originally trained aged just 16.
Joseph joins managing director Philip Taubenheim, as partner and director of the historical sale room which has traded in the town since the 1850s.
Joseph, who is originally from Cirencester, joined the auction house in 2009 during his college studies starting out by measuring carpets and weighing silver.
After seven years he left in 2016 to gain more experience in London, Shropshire and Sussex.
Joseph said: “I left Wotton with a very heavy heart, but Philip remained a mentor to me.
“I have always missed the Cotswolds and when this opportunity to return presented itself, I couldn’t say no. It’s a lovely homecoming story really.
“It’s so telling that the fundamentals haven’t changed here.
“On the one hand and it is a new challenge, but on the other it feels like I left just yesterday - none of the ethics have degraded. It is still the honest, kind place it has always been.
“Philip has such a good name locally, what a great thing for me to be able to build on at the age of 30 – it’s a gift.
Philip has been the owner of Wotton Auction Rooms for more than 30 years since 1992 and has regularly appeared on BBC’s Antiques Roadshow.
He said: “Succession is always difficult in this industry.
“Joseph has worked in some of the largest and leading salerooms across the UK and will know more about the antiques business than I ever could.
“There’s a few years left in me yet, though Joseph will take the business on to even greater things”.
“From the moment I met Joseph aged just 16, I knew there was something special about him.
“When he left, I thought I had lost him. Happily, instead, it has been rather like sending a son out into the world to learn from broader experiences before welcoming him back to the family business”
“I am delighted that Joseph has accepted our partnership.
“I believe that in a year’s time the business will be much better for it.
“It is a comfortable fit for a local lad and I am very excited to see his progression from here”
“We work closely with residents at the heart of communities throughout the wider region and are now working for second and third generation families.
“This business and the historical buildings here are a local institution.
"For the people of Wotton-under-Edge, the saleroom has always been here, they know and love it.”
Joseph’s plans are to maintain monthly general sales, as well as to develop a calendar of specialist sales for the future, focusing on varying areas of the antiques market.
For more information see their website - here
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