At £10.6m compared to £9.93m for 2002, the year end turnover for 2003 is certainly heading in the right direction, but it is on profits that the company have made the most strides. Having suffered what is thought to have been their worst set of results for half a century in 2002 in the wake of international unrest, the firm, founded in 1905, joined the fairs circuit in earnest, showing at the Paris Biennale in September 2002 and the International Fine Art and Antique Dealers Show in New York last October. The year end shows that their marketing drive is beginning to pay off, with pre-tax profits of £425,000 (net £309,000) compared to only £9000 for the previous year.
Chairman John Partridge noted that there had been little improvement in trading conditions over the past year, but was pleased with the firm’s performance at October’s New York fair and stated that Partridge would show there again this year, as well as returning to Grosvenor House in June – their first fair there in more than 50 years.
Saturday openings at the restyled Bond Street galleries had also been well received, he said, and Partridge would build on their inhouse exhibitions of Contemporary artists.
Partridge head into 2004 with cautious optimism
PARTRIDGE of Bond Street have registered a 6.8 per cent rise in turnover for 2003, with a pre-tax profit of four per cent.
