Putting People First
The company has grown to become one of the largest and most successful regional auctioneers in the UK and it is now the largest family-owned Fine Art auctioneers in Europe with an annual turnover of £5.5m.
The 28 specialist departments at Tennants hold more than 80 fascinating auctions a year, from Antiques and Fine Art to Country House and Collectors Sales. This comprehensive calendar includes major international auctions of Paintings, Furniture, Jewellery & Watches, Silver, Whisky & Wine, Coins, Stamps and Books, and more unusual subjects such as Natural History, Toys and Militaria & Ethnographica.
Tennants is a truly international business with a global reach and from its headquarters, connects buyers and sellers in more than 70 countries.
The business employs more than 100 people in a rural market town with a population of only 2,000, which therefore makes a key contribution to the economic stability of the area. Many employees have more than 20 years’ service and many are members of the same immediate or extended family.
Aside from continually developing the core business of Fine Art and Antiques auctions, The Tennant family has always had an unwavering purpose to provide a destination experience which can be freely enjoyed by the community, would raises money for charity and make a lasting contribution to the appreciation of the Arts and culture in North Yorkshire. To this end in 2014, the salerooms were more than doubled in size to create The Garden Rooms at Tennants, a state-of-the-art events, galleries, and exhibition space. This allows rare and unusual objects and private collections to be on view to the public ahead of sale, many for the first and only time. The galleries and exhibitions also host selling exhibitions for both local and internationally acclaimed artists. The galleries are free to enter and as a result, Tennants has also become a major contributor to the wider visitor economy.
New function rooms host a busy programme of charity balls, musical concerts, and public speakers and Tennants has become the largest multi-purpose venue within a 40-mile radius. Combined with the auctions programme, there are more than 250 public and private events held at Tennants which now attracts more than 150,000 people each year. Many visitors then go on to spend in local shops, restaurants and hotels which make a vital contribution to the wider visitor economy.
Throughout the Covid pandemic, Tennants have provided use of their large on site car park for covid testing and during the lockdown, opened especially as a Covid Vaccination centre free of charge. The family are proud to have been able to give the facilities to enable the local community to receive their first, second and in some cases, booster, vaccinations helping to get life ‘back to normal’. During the challenging times Tennants provided food bundles of freshly prepared meals and Christmas treats to families in need.
Driven by a vision to use every opportunity to harness the commercial success of the business for the benefit of the community and good causes, Tennants has specifically created the following initiatives:
Hosting a preview of Fine Art Sales in aid of a nominated local charity. Over the last 30 years, these events have helped to raise hundreds of thousands of pounds and benefitted more than 150 local good causes as well as national charities.
The company’s chairman Rodney Tennant and other auctioneers regularly give their time to organise and undertake auctions for charities including The Variety Club, numerous racing charities through close links to the racing town of nearby Middleham, and the Children’s Heart Surgery Fund which have raised £millions over the last 40 years.
Making the salerooms available free of charge to community groups, orchestras, and choirs for their own fundraising events. Just one example is Leyburn Brass Bands’ use of the salerooms to hold fundraising concerts over a five-year period which generated enough funds to buy the new instruments they needed to secure their future. The band still perform an annual Christmas concert to a sell out audience, 8 years on.
Making the event spaces available to local charities for fundraising balls and concerts which have included Help for Heroes, (the Army’s wounded veterans’ charity), Wendy’s Wish (a local charity created in memory of a sufferer of Ocular Melanoma), The Yorkshire Air Ambulance and The Royal Agricultural Benevolent Fund (whilst not a local charity, RABI is highly significant in a deeply rural area such as Wensleydale).
The company has built its reputation as auctioneers on outstanding service, specialist knowledge and results and the people working across the business share these values.
All staff benefit from regular routine training such as manual handling, health and safety and GDPR which is all part of responsible business practice. However, the auctions industry lends itself to work-based training, where there is no substitute for hands-on experience and the company encourages every colleague to develop their own knowledge of and interest in Fine Art and Antiques. Those with a passion for a particular discipline can begin their training in the saleroom and are then supported through formal qualifications where appropriate. Mentoring is provided on an informal basis and specialists at all levels support each other to help their colleagues add to their knowledge. In the Fine Art and Antiques industry, there is always something new to learn and this collegiate approach has helped some of Tennants valuers become leading specialists and auctioneers in their field.
In addition to pursuing individual professional development, the business also ensures staff foster and maintain close liaisons with professional industry bodies. In a fast-moving, ever-changing business environment, this ensures everyone has an understanding of relevant laws and protocols and clients can be confident they are getting the best advice.
The events business attracts those either starting out or at the early stage in their careers and the directors of this aspect of Tennants have a hands-on approach to training and mentoring younger staff.
The overall ethos of the business is putting people first, whether that is the staff, or the clients and it is this approach which has been the most significant influence on Tennants’ continuity and success. This, coupled with a clear vision for the future communicates a confidence and certainty which in turn helps to attract and retain those who share the company’s values.