Even though Acuitus’ auction will go ahead as planned at the Montcalm Hotel in Wallenberg Place, W1, as planned on 26 March, the sale will go ahead with no bidders in the room, company said today.
It said that in light of prime minister Boris Johnson’s most recent advice, it would be closing the event to the public, however, its team of around 12 staff will live-stream the sale.
Acuitus said the auction would be held as a “multi-channel” event, with bidders able to bid on each lot by phone, online or through a proxy lodged previously with the auctioneer.
“Until yesterday we were expecting members of the public to attend the auction and several potential bidders had expressed a definite wish to attend,” an Acuitus spokesman said. “But that has all changed with the government’s changed guidance.”
Clive Emson also said it would close its March regional auctions, scheduled to take place between 23 and 27 March in Chelmsford, Maidstone, Fareham, Saltash and Brighton. It is yet to make a final decision about venues.
“We have the option of moving the auctions online but we will most likely continue to hold them and live-stream them to enable bids from telephone, internet and proxies,” said James Emson, managing director of Clive Emson.
“Some of our venues are in sports grounds, which may not be entirely suitable for the changed circumstances but we are currently taking legal advice about how we fulfil our legal requirements to vendors both through agency agreements and under section 5B of the Landlord & Tenant Act.”
