Decorative arts specialist Eric Knowles has become a dealer and teamed up with others in the trade to launch a new emporium in Kent.

TV programmes have brought restoration and conservation into the public spotlight recently, but what is life really like for those working in the field at a time when training and jobs are under pressure?

Koopman Rare Art has moved to Mayfair after more than 50 years in the London Silver Vaults on Chancery Lane.

Conservation and restoration firm Plowden & Smith is now run by managing director Camilla Hughes-Hunt with a team of 13 qualified full-time conservation specialists.

West Dean College recently merged with KLC School of Design in London.

Lizzie Neville, head of school of conservation at West Dean College of Arts & Conservation, works with 15 full-time members of staff and more than 50 visiting lecturers

Ceri House is an artist and restorer and currently works with Nick Shipton and the Brothership Studio team in Hertford.

Thousands of items are available to buy from dealers online. Here we pick out one that caught our eye this week.

Described recently in a How To Spend It article in the Financial Times as a “part sleuth, part therapist and part miracle worker… a modern master of illumination”, Simon Gillespie runs a team of seven conservators, restorers and specialists in his studio above New Bond Street in central London.

“We want art and antiques galleries to know that this area is now affordable," says dealer S Franses after High Court victory

The export of Italian art has become easier following changes made to the country’s cultural laws.

Dorset auction house Duke’s is creating a heritage and valuations division and has hired a former surveyor of The Queen’s Works of Art to form the new team.