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home Antiques Petition to UK Goverment

Petition to Government for Increased Industry Support

Please click here to sign the petition.

Last year many antique and fine art dealers were forced to close their premises as a direct result of high rent and business rate increases, at a faster rate than in previous recessions. While the Chancellor's rethink on the previously tabled increase in business rates shows some sensitivity to the needs of businesses, it does not do enough to help this often overlooked sector.

Antiques.co.uk has created an online petition that will be submitted to the Government to lobby for increased support and encouragement for the industry in this time of need.

Please consider signing the petition. Your voice will go a long way to helping the industry as a whole and help keep the Antiques and Fine Art trade healthy and stable.

Once we have obtained as many signatures as possible we shall be delivering this petition to the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rt Hon Alistair Darling MP to gain his response.

To submit your signature and comments to the petition, simply click here: Sign the Petition

A copy of the original letter as it appeared in The Times can be viewed here, whilst the current petition signatories can be viewed below.

There are currently 1039 signatures on the petition.

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Name	Company	Date Signed	Comments
Victor Judge		11/03/10	While fully supporting the aims of this petition,as a collector I am disenchanted by low valuations given by dealers on items,yet when attempting to purchase from dealers,they extoll the virtues of their similar commodities and quote prices 2-3 times greater. These are hard times for all,my partner hasn't had a pay increase for 3 years and recently had to accept a 12.5% pay cut. Cut a little slack to your customers and reduce your margins. To the sale rooms I say reduce your commission,15-25% to buyer and seller helps neither the trade or private buyer. You must do as much as possible to help yourselves as I'm afraid the Government will do too little too late.
John Jackson		09/03/10
barry smith		06/03/10
GEOFFREY NOBLE		05/03/10
Richard Baxter		27/02/10
jane carroll	Monash University	18/02/10	Antique businesses all over theworld are closing down and one day there will be nothing left but mimimalist stuff and our heritage and beauty will be gone forever
Wayne Martin	The Living Room Wareham	15/02/10
Nick Ryan	Sonnic Repairs & Restoration	14/02/10	Antiques are an English way of life, encourage it don't kill it.
James Bergier de Rouville		13/02/10	I do heartily support any efforts made to revitalise the antiques trade. My father was a dealer for over 30 years and I myself had my own business supplying interior designers in the late 80s early 90s when I quickly realised that it was not profitable to have commercial premisses. The only way to really assist the antiques trade is to mount a PR campaign, with contributions by all traders presently operating in the UK, involving all the interiors magazines and interior designers (as well as many department stores) otherwise the appreciation which we have previously enjoyed of our heritage and culture will slip away in a wave of mass produced second rate designs manufactured in China. Retail antiques are fast becoming the prerogative of auction houses or high end dealers alone, the mid-level businesses are reduced by 70% in real terms as to what they were 20 years ago. It's a darn shame and something needs to be done before it's too late!
Roger Davies	Lymantiques	08/02/10	i have been dealing in antiques and collectable since 2002, and fully agree with the comments that i have read so far, PLEASE ADD MY NAME TO THE PETITION
robert hartley		01/02/10	AS a collector of fine furniture the closing of so many antique shops means travelling further or buying online. also Leeds is almost without antique shops,and i think those that reman will disapear very soon, so thank you mr. chancellor.
Eric Brammer	booksforsale.org.uk	26/01/10	Antiques, Art, Books and Ephemera have a historical place in our society. Its about time the powers that be help and stop the people who trade in these items from going out of business.
Jonathan Braganza	Ceej@ys Antiques	19/01/10
Huon Mallalieu		18/01/10
Crispin Baxter	Collector	16/01/10	Without Antique Dealers so much of our heritage will be lost. They are key players in the preservation of beautiful furniture
Gillian Horsup	Gillian Horsup	13/01/10	I have been evicted twice due to redevlopment at Camden Passage, and have had to move to Grays.
martin schooley		13/01/10
stephen page		10/01/10	we need to keep shops and antique business going it would be a great loss if they went
Julia Phillips	Distant Echoes	08/01/10	This trade also has suffered to many people selling there own items on line with little knowlege, bringing a great many antiques & collectables to a very low value, I have had people who come into my shop to sell their expensive items and leave nearly in tears because the value has so deprecated. Its not just our trade its the high st in general, I have been in this trade for the last 2 decades and I find myself HAVING to sell more on line and compete in my own trade with someone who is just selling (at anyprice) who then goes to their day job leaving all the antique dealers looking redundunt, If I had a £1 for everytime someone has come into my high st shop( which costs a shed load to keep up and running) what they can get cheaper on line. Also TV programmes tend to show our trade to just anybody so everyones an expert and know nothing, like a magician showing you all his tricks, people tend to hang on to every word those TV personalities come out with. Just one incident, a person (who I had never seen before) shot into my shop and started ranting at me as Paul Martin had bought some plastice screen for about £8 and sold it for a shed load, and now everyone knows how much profit we make and I won't repeat the rest, I think the programme was called 'Trust me I'm a dealer, well not to this person. There are a lot of reasons the high st is dying one is we are not protected by anything anymore and that includes on line shopping,these are just 2, we need our high sts people love to shop its a social thing and we must not lose it.
stuart palmer	time capsule	05/01/10	The Local Antique Shop, is a much needed part of local and outside interest. it cannot be allowed to become extinct!
bob harrison	3 church street(finedon)	05/01/10
lancs Jeff	Lancs Antiques	01/01/10	dont let anymore traders go, its a service that no one can replace.e dont need anymore banks or Take aways
Adam Partridge	Adam Partridge Ltd Auctioneers & Valuers	30/12/09	We must preserve our antiques industry and action needs to be taken immediately to prevent any further decline. I regularly hold antiques hunting weekend breaks and the list of antiques towns to visit is sadly getting smaller and smaller.
SUCHI CHIDAMBARAM		23/12/09
GEORGE DUCKETT	THOMAS DEL MAR LIMITED	23/12/09
CLAIR BOLUSKI		23/12/09
PAM EDWARDS		23/12/09	HIGH BUSINEES RATES RIDCULOUS PARKING CHARGES AND TIME ABOUT HELP
NEIL CARINS		23/12/09
ashraf shaikh	mowglis	23/12/09	love antique
Daniel Fearon		22/12/09
Peter Clark	peter clarkantiques	21/12/09	antiques shops are part of our heritage. It is a great pity that so many are closing down
Kevin Ashby	Ashby & James antiques	18/12/09
Ken McDonald	McDonald Services	16/12/09	As a new antique dealing and restoration business (post-redundancy) the trade needs every help it can get and support our green credentials
Lorna Iddenten		15/12/09	Business rates for small businesses are absolutely crippling and should be abolished.
Alexander McCaffrey		15/12/09
Catrin Hampton		15/12/09
Allan Dunlop		10/12/09
Nick Wells	IDHOME Antiques	10/12/09	The trade needs all the help it can get, people are increasingly moving to work from home and are off the high street. This cant be a good thing in the long run.
adam langford	langfords	10/12/09
Kieran Goodary		08/12/09
George Kyriazi	Stefani Antiques	08/12/09	DO THE RIGHT THING!!!!
Adrian Barratt	Deja-Vu Antiques & Books	05/12/09	Small businesses always seem to bear the brunt of any governments shortfalls and become their cash cow to appease the public. Antiques are a British way of life and a huge draw for holiday makers and tourists, they are far better than recycling which involves transport, chemicals, water etc we are all about re using. More needs to be done to support the individual rather than large multi nationals maybe VAT only profit rather than turnover would encourage more business.
stephen gill	gill's vintage years	04/12/09
Carol Anne Marwick		03/12/09	I am an ex-pat living in New Zealand. If you saw the paucity of antiques and conservation sites here you would better understand and respect the rich endowment history has left us in the UK and why we need to conserve it.
Lisanne Mealing		03/12/09
Mike Carroll	Dynamical Antiques and Lighting	30/11/09	Antique dealers are the original 'recycling' industry globally so why not support us? We are also Adept in the Art of Optimism too...live in hope.
TERRY RAVEN	NELSONS COUNTY ANTIQUE SHOP	30/11/09	nearly all antiques shops and centres have closed down in the norwich area
John Dixon	Georgian Antiques	30/11/09
Paul Nash	Fossil Decor	28/11/09
Mandy Boyd	MJB Past & Present	28/11/09

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