Property company Durrants has announced it is closing its Beccles auction house - ending 128 years of items going under the hammer at the firm in the town.
Durrants has been holding auctions since 1853, initially selling off livestock and agricultural products in Halesworth before expanding to Beccles in 1895.
And now 128 years later Durrants Auction Rooms in the Suffolk town will officially close on Tuesday and has held its final bidding sale.
Managing director of Durrants, Dominic Paravanni, said the announcement "is a terrible shame," but the auction house was not making money.
He said: "We have had the last auction and it will officially close next Tuesday.
"It is a great shame to announce the closure of our traditional auction house.
"We have been carrying and propping up the auction room for a long time now, it is with regret and sadness we close it because it is a symbol of our great history.
"But unfortunately the auction house has been losing money over the last few years, especially since the pandemic struck.
"I think it is fair to say that people's buying habits have changed.
"As a result, it was no longer sustainable for us to continue running the auction rooms."
With the closing of the Beccles auction room, Durrants has announced six redundancies as a result.
Mr Parravani said: "We thank all of the staff for their tireless hard work and dedication over the years, they made the auction rooms and they will be greatly missed.
"We have had six staff from the auction room now redundant, so it is not a decision which we take lightly, it is a terrible shame.
"We wish everyone the best of luck for the future."
In 1853 the company began auctioning in Halesworth before expanding to Beccles in 1895.
The auction house was based at Tesco's current site until 2005 when the business downsized and moved to Peddars Lane.
Mr Parravani said: "Our site was based at Tesco in Beccles before we moved to the Peddars Lane premises.
"It has been a brilliant site to us and we certainly enjoyed our time here.
"We are really proud of our history.
"But the world of auctioning has fundamentally changed and our auction room has been a challenge recently."
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