Dreweatts' Donnington Priory saleroom.
The Newbury auction house revealed its January to December hammer turnover reached £37.56m*, a record for any UK provincial saleroom. Including buyer’s premium, it hit £47.3m.
The 2025 figure is for Dreweatts alone, following the split of books and works on paper specialist Forum Auctions last summer.
Forum was acquired by the art consultancy and valuation firm Gurr Johns group in an all-share deal in early 2022 but later demerged in August 2025. Dreweatts remains part of the Gurr Johns group having been acquired in 2017.
Dehua blanc de chine figure of Guanyin which took a hammer price of £185,000 at Dreweatts’ on November 12, 2025.
Among the highlights of Dreweatts’ year were the sales of a Dehua blanc de chine figure of Guanyin which took a hammer price of £185,000 at its November Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art sale (ATG No 2724) and a George Frampton (1860-1928) sculpture of Peter Pan, which took a hammer price of £350,000 on September 11, 2025 (ATG No 2714).
George Frampton’s sculpture of Peter Pan, £350,000 at Dreweatts on September 11.
Will Richards, chairman of Dreweatts, said: “We are pleased to have had a strong year given the wider economic and political environment and in particular that this has been reflected across all the main departments. With the arrival of Henry House as our new CEO and the addition of new specialist sales we look forward to continuing to develop the business.”
* In 2025 ATG No 2629 reported that Dreweatts’ total turnover for 2024 was £31.91m. However, this mistakenly included private sales. The correct hammer total was £29.8m. The 2025 figure of £37.56m does not include private sales.
