South Africa’s premier property auction company is banking on its bullish confidence in the private sector and massively expanding Cape Town operations to launch a new national movables division.

High Street Auctions Managing Director James Dall announced today that market-leading movables specialist Bidway Auction House and its full staff complement have been incorporated into High Street, with Bidway’s MD Stef Olivier becoming a Director in the company’s Cape Town division.

In addition to movables auctions Olivier, named the South African Institute of Auctioneers’ 2018 National Auction Champion, will also represent High Street on the real estate podium with Joff van Reenen, company Director and Lead Auctioneer. Between them, the two auctioneers boast more than 40 years of gavel experience.

Van Reenen has no doubt that High Street Movable Assets will enjoy as much success as its real estate counterpart because of the collective expertise supporting the brand, including a combined 30 years of movables experience that Bidway brings to the table.

“High Street is celebrating its 10th anniversary this year, and after a decade of industry leadership in property auctions it’s the right time to expand operations into another specialist sector.

“This venture has been long in planning, but High Street preferred to bide time and wait for the right opportunity, which we found in Bidway’s operational methodology.

“Stef’s inherent vision, culture and ethos are identical to ours and we’ve now got the perfect team to instil as much market confidence in our movables auction expertise as we’ve enjoyed in property for the past decade.”

Van Reenen says the vintage and classic car sale that took place in Stellenbosch in November last year was a combination “test run” and soft launch of High Street Movable Assets.

“Even we were stunned by the success of that sale, which categorically demonstrated that expanding into movables is the right decision at the right time.

“That inaugural classic car auction – the first of many to come – garnered worldwide attention and on the day attracted bidders from six countries. The live stream was also viewed by more than 1 000 enthusiasts, while some 400 ‘gearheads’ attended the sale. We expected a good response, but the final numbers were astonishing.”

Olivier is equally optimistic about the new venture and the diversification into much larger movable markets.

“I’ve always held the view that success in the auction industry is built on a foundational network of repeat business; something only achievable if clients have absolute faith in your professionalism and ethics. The strategic meeting of minds with High Street in this regard leaves me in no doubt that we’ll quickly become the country’s movables auction market leaders, just as the brand dominates in real estate.

“We’ll also be taking advantage of High Street’s existing market-leading digital auction platform for our movables auctions going forward, including one later this year which – with more than 2 000 lots – will be the country’s largest ever furniture and appliance auction to date.

“We are also exploring opportunities in a range of sectors from mining to specialist collectibles. An announcement is also imminent regarding our next classic car auction, which will attract even more attention than the sale in November.”

High Street’s board is in the advanced planning stages of moving the company’s Cape Town operations into its vast new premises centrally located in Woodstock, which Olivier notes is ideal for on-site storage and display of movable assets.

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