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PROGRAMME INFO |
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Intelligent and entertaining conversation about business, money, technology and workplace issues.
Presented by Heather Payton, each programme picks up on trends and returns to stories that have moved out of the headlines. |
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PROGRAMME DETAILS |
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Is the antique trade in decline? |
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Antiques
Antiques shops used to be found on every British high street, and browsing them for bargains was a national past-time. But in recent years the antiques trade has hit hard times.
The cluttered country house interior look that people went wild for when Laura Ashley style was at its height has now been swept away for cleaner lines.
Minimalism and functionality have triumphed in the home. And oak dressers just don't work in a stainless steel clad kitchen. Prices for antiques dropped by 3% in 2002 and a further 2% last year and the shops are struggling.
It seems that a new generation has given up on antiques - or at least on the sort of things their parents bought.
And that's not the only problem.
Antique shops are struggling to find quality stock - there just aren't enough good antiques to trade. Dealers who were once able to fill lorries with fantastic finds now complain they are lucky if they can spot a couple of pieces a week.
It's all in America now they say, and they should know because they sold it to American dealers in the 1980s. And since September 11th, those Americans have stopped coming here to buy antiques, further adding to the antique dealers' woes.
So is it all doom and gloom for antiques? Is the trade as stuck in the past as the antiques it sells? Or can the antiques world be reinvented for the 21st century?
The programme includes a report by Dylan Winter from Antiques for Everyone at Birmingham NEC.
Guests
Stephen Bayley
designer/writer
Helen Linfield
Wakelin and Linfield/Director of LAPADA
Adrian Amos
founder of Lassco Architectural Antiques
Richard Gardner
Richard Gardner Antiques, Petworth
Richard Davidson
Davidson Furniture
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RELATED LINKS
Lassco Architectural Antiques
Richard Gardner Antiques
Antiques for Everyone
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