Euro Auctions is celebrating 20 years since its first event in Dromore, Northern Ireland, on the same site that is now the company’s global headquarters.
At the event, a one-day auction, 371 vehicle and equipment lots went under the hammer to aachieve sales close to €1.12 million, said Derek Keys, founder of the business.
Euro Auctions expanded into England in 2000 with its first sale in Wetherby where it auctioned a selection of Volvo dump trucks from the Far East. A couple of years later the company acquired a dedicated site near Selby, Leeds where it attracted over 500 buyers to its first sale and netted just under €8 million.
Expansion followed into the key German market in 2006 and the Spanish market in December 2010. Expansion over the years has also included Australia and the US.
The Wetherby site, too, has steadily expanded in volumes and physical size to the point where auction held there every six-to-eight weeks bring in over €33 million, said Keys.
Some of the biggest items to go under the hammer in the 20 years include a couple of 220tonne all-terrain Tadano cranes previously operated by Hewden Stuart. Each went for almost €813,000 in spring 2017 as part of the epic one-day sale that netted nearly €36 million.
“We’ve also sold numerous lots at under €1,120 each so there is always something for everybody at each of our auctions,” said Keys.
Today, Euro Auctions hosts around 60 auctions a year and operates from 10 sites in seven countries on four continents. Global turnover is close to €450 million.
