A FAMILY antiques business is expanding into its own premises.

Summersgills Auctioneers has moved into the Auction Centre at Roxby House Estate in Easingwold.

Auctioneer Tim Summersgill said the move was the biggest change in the business’s 54-year history.

He said he expected it to give the firm a higher profile, with BBC television keen to do more filming with the company after previously including it on BBC Antiques Road Trip in 2011.

“They are always ringing up wanting to come and now we have got this location, they will probably come a lot more,” he said.

The auction centre includes a sales room, in which the company will hold auctions every six weeks. It will also open a new 6,000 sq ft showroom, which will sell antiques on a permanent basis, providing the business with a new revenue stream.

Summersgills has always hired locations in North Yorkshire to run its auctions, such as country houses, village halls and office premises, Mr Summersgill said. “We have had the office in York for 50-odd years, but never had our own sale room.”

He said the business, which employs four people, now expected to grow.

“There’s a lot of business out there and I think we can go forward with it. We will be looking for staff in the future.”

Summersgills was founded in 1959 by Tim’s father, Geoffrey Summersgill, who still plays a big part in the business, while Tim, who lives in Harrogate, runs the auctions.

The company has previously sold collections which included a model horse used on the set of local TV show Emmerdale and a life-sized Canadian bear.

Its first sale in the new premises, with more than 500 lots, will take place on Saturday at 11am and the sale room will be open for viewing on Friday from 10am to 7pm.

The sale includes a three-carat solitaire diamond estimated to make £2,500 to £5,000, a collection of 1,700 postcards of ships with estimates at £500 to £1,000, and a one-off chair made by Acorn Industries for a “larger than average gentleman”.