Northern firm Mark Jenkinson & Son faced every auctioneer’s nightmare on Tuesday when fire broke out near Sheffield United’s football ground on the day of the April sale, leading to a mass evacuation of buyers and sellers.
“It really gave new meaning to the term ‘fire sale’,” said Adrian Little, partner at Mark Jenkinson. “It was clear by 10am on the morning of the sale that we had a major problem on the construction site of the new hotel at Sheffield’s Bramall Lane.
“We decided the best option was to rearrange it to allow all interested parties the opportunity of bidding for the lots on offer.”
The auction of 60 commercial and residential lots has been rescheduled to start at 11am on Tuesday 29 April at the football ground’s Platinum Suite.
“I remember when Gary Murphy had to reschedule an Allsop sale once because of severe weather. It is really every auctioneer’s nightmare to have to call off the sale at such short notice. We’re laughing about it now, but it’s the first time we have experienced such a thing in 30 years. I hope it doesn’t happen again for another 30.”
