When it opened in York in September 1996, Stonegate Antiques Centre introduced High Street antiques shopping to one of the busiest thoroughfares in Europe.

The new Cavendish Antique and Collectors Centre in Stonegate

The centre has put the city once again on the antique buyer's map of England and the man behind the venture, businessman Anthony Gilberthorpe, has been rewarded with a turnover of over £1 million a year. Now he has opened a second centre in the city, also in Stonegate.

The move has created five more full-time jobs, bringing the total number of full and part-time staff employed at Stonegate Antiques Centre and the new Cavendish Antiques and Collectors' Centre to 21.

Covering 2,200 sq ft on three floors, the new centre, on the opposite side of Stonegate to Stonegate Antiques Centre, in what used to be the And Albert crafted goods shop, follows the same successful formula as Stonegate Antiques Centre, with cabinets crammed full of high quality antiques, ranging from fine ceramics and jewellery to toys and silverware.

The cabinets - 44 of them on the new centre's ground floor - are rented by individual antique dealers, some of whom have more than one cabinet. Most of the dealers in the two centres are York and Yorkshire-based, although some cabinet holders live as far afield as London, Stratford and Aberdeen. There is even one American dealer based in Massachusetts.

Each dealer is experienced in his or her own field and there is a tremendous range of items, with prices pitched at a level that attracts casual visitors and the small scale collector, as well as those with more cash to spend. The centres are managed centres, with dealers leaving their stock to be looked after by the sales team.

The new centre does differ from Stonegate Antiques Centre in that the focus is on collectors' items and, in addition, its first and second floors are given over entirely to the display of good quality pictures and furniture. Rob Oxley, who manages both centres, explained: "We are trying to cater for oak, mahogany and dark woods - we are constantly being asked for dark woods."

Rob says that since it opened on May 9 the new centre had been "very busy" and had also increased business at the other centre, which now has 111 cabinets and an annual turnover of over £1 million.

Why has the business proved such a success? Rob said: "We take the view that the bigger and better you are the more attractive you are and the more pulling power you have. We believe the centres are in the best place in York. Our presentation is also different from most other centres in the sense that the quality of cabinets is far better."

The two centres are open seven days a week from 9.15am to 6pm and above Stonegate Antiques Centre there is the Caf Marmaduke, a spacious tearoom and restaurant, where customers can enjoy a coffee or light lunch while mulling over a purchasing decision.

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