A famous Bargain Hunt auctioneer will be expanding his business to the area after moving to Powys.
Rogers Jones & Co Auctioneers owner Ben Rogers Jones, who is well known for his appearances on the BBC’s Bargain Hunt, will be expanding his business into Powys after he moved to the county.
‘’I have moved to Llanbrynmair and am working from a home-office initially,” said Ben. “I am really excited about moving into the area, firstly because it is such a culturally vibrant area with amazing scenery and with a thriving Welsh language.
“But secondly, the region is the last piece of the jigsaw in terms of our regional coverage – we have auctioneers based in Ynys Mon, Conwy, Wrexham, Cardiff, and Carmarthen. And now here I am in the heart of Wales.’’
The most famous recent auction Ben was involved in was the sale of Welsh Rugby Legend Sir Gareth Edwards’ rugby jersey collection, which raised an incredible £351,000 from a collection of old rugby jerseys alone.
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The top price in the auction was for Sir Gareth’s 1973 Barbarians jersey which sold for a massive £240,000 – the highest price ever paid in a Welsh auction house and the highest price ever paid in the UK for sporting clothing.
‘’The auction for Sir Gareth is one I will never forget. It was very emotional. My father who was my mentor really, had recently passed away and it was sad that he didn’t see the sale. But I know that he would have been very proud,” said Ben.
Ben’s father, David Rogers Jones was the founder of the company back in 1992 in Colwyn Bay and was formerly a regular contributor on Radio Cymru.
In 2013, the company opened their second auction house in Cardiff, followed shortly afterwards with a regional office in Carmarthen. David sadly died in 2022 whilst still very much involved in the auction company.
Ben has said that whilst he loved the Rugby shirt auction his auction house specialises in a number of different areas particularly Welsh art.
“In the unlikely event of me appearing on BBC’s Mastermind, then my specialist subjects would be rugby history and Welsh art – especially Sir Kyffin Williams,” added Ben.
“We also hold the auction record for works by Sir Kyffin as well as other Welsh artists including Shani Rhys James, John Knapp Fisher, and many other Welsh artist. Most of these prices were achieved in a specialist three times per year auction called The Welsh Sale. The Welsh Sale combines Welsh art with Welsh furniture and antiques together with other items of Welsh heritage.
“But we do not just sell items for thousands and thousands. We hold frequent auctions of jewellery, collectables, and antiques. I am happy to assess and value pretty much anything and I have a specialist team behind me to help. If a mid-Wales client decides to offer items at auction, then very often carriage to one of the auction houses is free.”
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