Wiltshire auction house Henry Aldridge & Son plots expansion
3rd September 2025
Wiltshire auction house Henry Aldridge & Son is expanding, investing a seven-figure sum in its home town of Devizes.
The Titanic memorabilia specialist has purchased the freehold of two historic buildings in the town centre to convert into showrooms, two salerooms and a head office.
Operating from an edge-of-town location in a business park on Bath Road for the last 25 years, the move is part of a series of investments for the firm.
Now run by husband-and-wife team Andrew and Chrissie Aldridge, following the semi-retirement of Andrew’s father Alan in 2019, the firm will operate from two historic buildings from the autumn.
The Old Town Hall, a Grade II c.1750 Neoclassical building will house its Titanic and Liner auctions, together with sales of “iconic” memorabilia, and house its head office.
The firm has also purchased the building next door: the Old Emporium. Including street level shopfronts, the Grade II listed property that backs onto the 16th century St John’s Alley will host jewellery, collectables and fine art sales. The property is around 2500 sq ft and dates to 1550.
The first jewellery and collectors sale will be held there on December 12-13.
Aldridge said: “Our lease was coming up and I wanted to own where we work. So then we had to decide on what type of building we went for: a soulless warehouse or something with history. To find a suitable historic location was a very challenging search.
The firm has also purchased the building next door: the Old Emporium. Including street level shopfronts, the Grade II listed property that backs onto the 16th century St John’s Alley will host jewellery, collectables and fine art sales. The property is around 2500 sq ft and dates to 1550.
The first jewellery and collectors sale will be held there on December 12-13.
Aldridge said: “Our lease was coming up and I wanted to own where we work. So then we had to decide on what type of building we went for: a soulless warehouse or something with history. To find a suitable historic location was a very challenging search.
Aldridge is committed to staying in the town in which he grew up and added: “Our business is tied to Titanic memorabilia so we could be anywhere in the world, but I have been in Devizes for 30-plus years.
“I might spend a lot of time in the US but I am a Devizes boy. We advertise locally and we are part of the community.”
The Old Town Hall location also has a personal connection. Aldridge’s father Alan rented the first floor space in the building in the 1990s and its first Titanic sale was held there in 1996.
'Small, pretty and portable'
As part of the change in strategy the firm will stop offering furniture and large items with Aldridge describing its focus on the “small, pretty and portable”.
Aldridge said by removing furniture from its remit it no longer needed “a massive space” and with jewellery and collectables going from “strength to strength” its business model has shifted.
“We are looking to utilise the profile of our Titanic auctions and tap into the high net worth client base that our Titanic sales bring," he said. "Titanic collectors also collect other things too. We plan to concentrate on smaller, higher value pieces, alongside our now very successful jewellery and collectors sales.
“We are also able to offer our vendors access to that level of buyer – we have five billionaires on our client list.”
Aldridge plans to expand his staff. Former BBC Flog It!presenter Paul Martin joined in 2023 and is head of valuations and Marc Eidlestein, who recently joined as head of jewellery and objet d’art, will be general manager at the Old Emporium. A further high profile hire will be announced in due course.
