Public Statement

On 18th October 2010, we were subjected to a serious burglary at St Andrew's Hall where cash and valuables relating to our business were stolen. We estimate the total uninsured loss to our business to be in excess of £30,000
Barnes Auctioneers is a small family business and this incident has been catastrophic for us but we have made it very clear through the public media that we intend to make good our own position and any losses incurred by our customers.  We want to make the point that our business can be entrusted with the antiques and valuables that we are responsible for selling on behalf of our customers. Our next sale is on Thursday, 11th November and that will proceed as we begin trading normally again. 
We have completely reviewed our security procedures and are confident that the steps we have taken can (as far as is possible) avoid a similar incident happening in the future.  One of these steps is to move the storage of valuables from St Andrew's Hall to a new secure storage facility in the city centre known only to our staff team.  Only bulky/low value items will be kept at St Andrew's Hall and nothing at all at our home/office at 73 Yarmouth Road. 
With regard to the settlement of customer accounts we have decided to adopt the following strategy:
1)  All accounts relating to the 11th November and subsequent sales to be settled in cash in full as usual from the Wednesday following each sale.
2)  All accounts relating to the 14th October sale valued between £1-£100 to be settled in cash in full from Wednesday, 10th November.
3)  All accounts relating to the 14th October sale valued between £101-£500 to be settled in cash in full by 31st December 2010.
4)  All accounts relating to the 14th October sale valued between £501-£10,000 to be settled by bank transfer in full by 31st March 2011.
Our strategy is designed to ensure confidence amongst our customers in that everyone is to be paid in full in time without putting a burden on the business that could undermine our overall viability.  Although a successful and profitable enterprise, we do need time to recover from the losses we have incurred. 
All customers affected by the 18th October burglary will be contacted by us within the next seven days to explain what the strategy means for them.