Last year, here are Auction News, we celebrated our sixty year history… six decades in which we
embraced the digital revolution, moved into purpose-built premises and expanded from a one-man
operation to a team of eleven. We pride ourselves on being a successful, family run, auction business
and for that reason it’s important to us that we don’t forget where Auction News came from…
Our story began in 1958, when Derby-born entrepreneur Ronald Whitehurst set out to establish a
company that he called Auction Guide and Auction News Services. Researching auctions in his local
library, listing them in his weekly news sheet and sending it to a list of subscribers, Ron and his good
friend, John Payne, realised they had struck on a gap in the market.
Years later, 1984 to be exact, current Managing Director and John’s son, Steve, took the business reigns
with support from his then Father in Law, Wally Windsor, where the two men increased subscribers
from a few hundred to over 1000 within a few years…