Savills this week poached the five-strong commercial auctions team of Nelson Bakewell, ending a search that has lasted more than two years.
The team, headed by James Cannon, resigned en masse on Wednesday. Hugh Morgan, Simon Parker, Barry Coltrini and Darac O’Neil are to move to Savills with Cannon. The quintet was still in negotiations to leave late on Thursday, when EG went to press.
A source close to Cannon said: “James always hankered to work on a bigger stage. He sees moving to Savills as like transferring from Charlton to Chelsea.”
The prospect of high earnings driven from Savills’ greater investment business has attracted Cannon and his team. They will be part of the investment department headed by Simon Hope.
Auction market volumes doubled from around £170m in 2000 to £340m last year. There have been well-founded reports of a senior auctioneer being offered a guaranteed £300,000 pa for three years to defect.
Typical earnings are around half that: a team head will be on a basic of £90,000 to £100,000 a year, while juniors get £30,000-£40,000. Bonuses can add between 50% and 100%.
