The weekend event held on September 21-22, which was designed to fill the gap left by the RICS autumn conferences which have not been run for some years, began with a reception and black tie dinner at Corpus Christi College. At the Ashmolean, sessions were organised in the conservation studio, the prints and drawings room and the Japanese galleries.
Among the topics discussed in the open forum which closed the conference were the implications of the Valuers' Registration Scheme which is being formulated by the RICS, the problems of guaranteeing payment from Chinese and other absentee bidders and the legal implications of sharing information on fraudulent bidders.
Delegates also explored the possibility of working together to standardise auctioneers' terms, conditions and practices to make them less confusing for buyers and there was also a warning that fake gold is being regularly offered to auctioneers.
With more than 50 in attendance, it seems likely that more events of this type will follow.
