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| Nick Mansell was first introduced to stamps when presented at an early age with a collection from an elderly relative and he has been a professional philatelist now for over 25 years. He began dealing whilst in his teens in the Midlands and joined first in business with his father, Norman, who is still well remembered around the auction houses. Over the years he has handled an extremely wide range of all World material including one of the largest accumulations of German zusammendrucke in existence. Nick has used his experiences as both a buyer and seller at auction houses to ensure that Grosvenor provides a high level of personal service to clients. His knowledge of commercial trading has been invaluable in the establishment and everyday business of the company. His own collecting interests focus on classic British Commonwealth although he has many sidelines, which unusually include thematic stamps featuring frogs. When asked what alternative career path he might have chosen, Nick tells us that he might otherwise have become a psychologist, which perhaps explains why the atmosphere of an auction room is so interesting for him. When not in London, Nick may be found in Sussex with his wife and cats. Andrew Claridge is a leading expert in the field of Great Britain stamps and postal history. Hailing, as he terms it, from “deepest Essex” and having been a keen collector from childhood, Andrew was greatly encouraged by Harold Fisher, who he first met on a visit to the National Postal Museum where Fisher was researching the 1d. plating books, and who showed |
Andrew the imprimatur sheets of the 1d. blacks. He joined the Phillips Stamp Department in 1976 and helped the department to grow to an outstanding position. Among the many important collections that Andrew handled and prepared for sale were the “Harold Fisher”, “Douglas Latto”, “A.J. Lowe“, “Ken James”, as well as the exceptional “Alphonse” series of auctions. Moving to Harmers of Switzerland in 1992, he continued with the "Shaida" Great Britain sales and was called upon to turn his hand to such diverse areas as Mafeking and the "Liphschutz" Russia. In his capacity as a member and director of the B.P.A. Expert Committee, secretary of the Great Britain Philatelic Society, as well as through his business partnership with Andrew Lajer, Andrew finds his advice in great demand from collectors. In the spare time that he has been able to find, Andrew has travelled widely, often to parts of the world where he has been able to pursue his interests as a qualified diver. James Grist grew up in a Devon rectory and chose to become a professional auctioneer afterreading Modern Languages at Oxford. Specialising in British Commonwealth, James worked previously for both Harmers and Phillips and joined with Andrew Claridge and Nick Mansell to found Grosvenor Auctions in 1997. Among the favourite collections that he has prepared for auction have been the "Beaver Creek" Dominica, the "Norman Williams" Cinderellas and Literature, and more recently the "John Sussex" Key Plates. Among many collecting fields, James has recently been working on is an extensive study |
of the postcards of the Shepherds Bush Exhibitions. Outside interests include literature and history with a particular enthusiasm for the Anglo-Zulu War. He is married with two children and currently spends as much time as he can renovating a farmhouse in Gascony. Glyn Page joined HR Harmer in 1965 where he was a describer until 1976, working alongside many well known names in the Stamp world, including the late Bill Keller, and specialising in Foreign Countries. He subsequently joined Argyll Etkin Ltd, researching postal history and pricing stock, and in 1986 became a senior describer for Phillips (later Bonhams) where, over the years he was at various times the specialist in charge of all four of the main "philatelic disciplines": Great Britain, British Commonwealth, Foreign Countries and Postal History, before leaving in May this year. Among the many prestige and specialised auctions that Glyn has been responsible for, have been the Mathias collection, Barclays Gibraltar, R.C. Alcock stock, G.O.I. Hollins Belgium and the celebrated series of sales of the collection of the Baron Alphonse Rothschild. Glyn lives in London. He has a wife and five daughters and he enjoys spending time in Spain. Chris Lawrence was raised as a Leeds Loiner returning to the city to study Accountancy after reading Economics at Sheffield University. Deserting Yorkshire he travelled and worked for many years around Europe and Asia before coming back to live permanently in England. Chris joined Northamber the computer wholesaler spending thirteen years with the company before being tempted to leave and join Grovenor in 2002 to help run the office. |
He now lives in Surrey spending much of his time getting to grips with the financial markets when not travelling which is his favourite pastime. Tristan Brittain joined Grosvenor full time in January 2005 after previously helping out at numerous auctions. His interest in stamps started in the early 1970s when he was given a large packet of Malayan stamps by his grandfather who worked for Harrison & Crossfield. After finishing school in Wokingham he went to work for Stanley Gibbons in the buying department and the shop, gaining a useful knowledge of Commonwealth and GB including Postal History. After leaving Stanley Gibbons he worked with various dealers to widen his appreciation of this fascinating field, and travelled frequently to Hong Kong where he developed an extensive knowledge of Oriental philately. He is married with a son Oliver and collects Pitcairn Islands being a member of the PISG. |