A fire destroyed the saleroom building of Iain M Smith Auctioneers & Valuers in Perth that contained 600 lots ready for auction the following day on March 9.
Smith, who has run the business for 21 years, is now planning to open a temporary saleroom in a building provided by plant and machinery auctioneer Morris Leslie which is close to the original site at Perth Aerodrome, Scone, Perth.
The premises should be open to accept consignments by the end of the month and he hopes to hold an auction in 8-10 weeks’ time. The company can stay at the temporary site for six months while it builds a new saleroom on its original site.
He said the loss adjustors are processing the insurance claim and the contents should be covered.
Smith added: “The fire was the night before our auction which meant everything had been catalogued and photographed. Although we have lost a lot of records we have these details from our catalogue so we can value everything.”
The circumstances of the fire are being treated as suspicious and are being investigated.
