Ed Bailey (00:01.27) Right. Hi everyone. Welcome to another Real Antiques podcast. I've got Saxon Durant here from Metro Retro. Nice to catch up with you, mate, and thanks for coming on the podcast.
Saxon DurrantHi (00:13.902) That's quite alright Ed, I'm all ready to go. I've got the log burner going on this cold day, so I'm nice and toasty, nice and relaxed. Ready for a good chat.
Ed Bailey (00:23.382) Are you sort of winding down a little bit towards Christmas now or is it still full on at Metro Retro?
Saxon DurrantHi (00:30.846) I've got a big order for a retail fit out. That's on the sort of other side of the business, the kind of making side of things. And that's actually gonna be quite interesting because I'm working with another dealer. So I'm doing the bespoke side of stuff and they're doing all the vintage side of it. So it's, whereas I'd normally be doing both, they kind of got me on board just to make stuff, to compliment what they're doing. So yeah, it's gonna be quite an interesting.
interesting project that I think will be finished probably just after Christmas. So I dare say there'll be a few photos of the finished showroom once it's done. And now I've got another retail job in January for an existing customer making some big footwear tables. There'll probably be a little bit of reclaimed going into that, hopefully. Other than that, I've just done a mid century modern fair, quite a special one, it was there.
Ed Bailey (01:08.162) Nice, nice, yeah.
Saxon DurrantHi (01:25.902) 20th anniversary of the fair in Dulwich, which is a very well known one. So yeah, that was last Sunday. So I'm just kind of in that kind of post-fair kind of thousand yard stare kind of phase, where you just think, what did I just do last week? I just, you know, burning the candle at both ends and just doing long hours to get this thing done. And then, you know, when you shut the van doors, you sign it off, you think, well, I can't do anymore. I can't restore anymore stuff. I can't.
Ed Bailey (01:46.28) Try to.
Saxon DurrantHi (01:55.15) cleaning more stuff up, that's it. And then you get there and you have to unload it all, set it all up, and then be there the whole day, you know, serving the customers and then put it all back again. And it's still sat in the van now. I've not unloaded it.
Ed Bailey (01:58.049) Thanks.
Ed Bailey (02:07.946) Yeah, it doesn't finish. It doesn't finish, does it, the fairs? Because people don't realise the amount of work that goes in before. They just see you standing, and they don't actually realise the amount of time and effort that you put into it. First of all, get there, get all the items, and then afterwards, get all the items back into whether you've got a showroom, shop, all that sort of thing. So Saxon, let's start from the beginning, Metro retro, tell us your history, because you've been a dealer for a very long time, haven't you?
Saxon DurrantHi (02:13.261) No.
Saxon DurrantHi (02:38.594) Yeah, I started when I was about 17, 18, I think, when I was just finished my A levels. Um, and I started off in the local secondhand market and I was, I was selling a lot to dealers from Camden. And one of them said you should give Camden a go where we're selling you've got the eye you can I think you'd be all right. So following summer, I trotted up to the stables market and sort of asked if there were any spaces anywhere in the
in one of the stables, sure enough there was, they were only too happy to have me. It was this kind of ragtag bunch of guys in their sort of 50s and 60s, you know, old school antiques dealers. They sort of took me under their wing and I was there for a summer. Then I went to Sussex University, took all my stock with me and I started trading at the Brighton Sunday Market down in the railway station car park as it was then, which is an absolutely brilliant market. It was a bit like a mini Kempton Park. It was really good back then in the...
sort of very early 90s. And the guy that I couldn't even drive then, I used to take a sort of old deer shopping trolley with a pasting table strapped to it on the train from the campus. And I had all my stock in that. I think the guy just let me set up on the end of a row for a tenner. So I was selling like Bakelite phones, bits of deco, old suitcases, just anything I could fit in this trolley basically.
Ed Bailey (03:48.558) Ha ha
Ed Bailey (03:56.355) Nice.
Saxon DurrantHi (04:05.514) So I managed to leave university not in debt, which was great. And yeah, then just at 94, just set the business up literally the day I left.
Ed Bailey (04:15.17) Nice. So what did you do at uni? Do you use anything that you learn at uni now?
Saxon DurrantHi (04:16.45) But it kind of goes back earlier than that.
Saxon DurrantHi (04:23.695) Oh definitely, I do philosophy.
Ed Bailey (04:25.43) Oh, right. Oh, of course. Right. Oh, interesting. Yeah, that's very interesting. Oh, I didn't realise that. So you were studying philosophy. And then you were selling your wares.
Saxon DurrantHi (04:28.338) Yeah, yeah, I mean, we, yeah, well, it was it was philosophy, philosophy and sociology. So it was it was I'd done that as a level. So but yeah, we did a really good aesthetics module in philosophy, which is really good from a sort of antiques dealers point of view, because it was all about what
what is beauty, what is art, what is good, what is bad sort of thing, what's good taste, it was all about that. So I was all over that. I mean, I did one of my final papers on that and ended up writing about the Kray twins and Trechikov in one essay, and I don't know where it came from, but I mean, I only got a two, too, so they obviously weren't that impressed by me.
Ed Bailey (05:15.404) You channeled the cray twins into your philosophy!
Saxon DurrantHi (05:18.93) Yeah, I've no idea. That's literally just come into my head. I can't remember the context, but yeah, I remember writing about Trechikov and his kind of kitsch paintings and things like that. So, but yeah, I asked what any of that means now, and I couldn't tell you it was a long time ago.
Ed Bailey (05:38.102) No, but at least you ended up out of debt coming out of uni as well. That was a good thing because a lot of people end up in a lot of debt coming out of uni, don't they? So I think that's a good thing about actually being able to like what you learn by going down Camden and trading on the side of little things, wheeling and dealing, earning that extra money just to subsidise. I mean, a lot of a lot of, you know, the people now that, you know, younger people who are now at uni and that, they don't have that aspect, do they?
Saxon DurrantHi (05:46.859) Yeah.
Saxon DurrantHi (05:58.83) Mmm.
Ed Bailey (06:07.182) That's the thing, you know, they don't sort of see that aspect, you know, and I think that's sort of like dying out.
Saxon DurrantHi (06:10.022) No, no. Yeah, it was really, I mean, yeah, yeah. I mean, I knew what I wanted to do as soon as I got there. I knew that I was gonna be starting a business and doing antiques and vintage. I mean, that was, and it was all about, sounds a bit kind of highfalutin, but I just didn't wanna be part of the system. I didn't wanna work for anyone. I wanted to do everything on my own terms, which sounds really idealistic and kind of a bit.
dreamy but I just couldn't, I just thought I'm not ever going to work for anyone, I just can't do it. I can't have anyone tell me what to do. It was quite, you know, I was pretty determined and I was very lucky and you know, I am continue to be very lucky that I can do what I really enjoy although it is really hard work. There's no doubt about it. I mean, you know, I go home with filthy hands most days and absolutely exhausted. I'll probably end up with
Ed Bailey (06:44.248) Mm.
Ed Bailey (06:49.132) Yeah.
Saxon DurrantHi (07:09.59) But, you know, it's like there's always compromise, isn't there? But, yeah, I've been able to maintain that freedom, never have a boss. And, yeah, just do it on my own terms, which I feel incredibly blessed and fortunate to have been able to do.
Ed Bailey (07:25.406) Yeah. And that's when we sort of touched on that a little bit as well before the podcast, we haven't a little chat, weren't we? And I said, um, it's, if anybody wants to make, if they're working for people and they want to make that step, you know, to be their own boss, you've just got to do it, not worry about what's going to happen, where you're going to, something always happens. You always find a way to pay the next bill. You always sort something out because
you're in charge of your own life, someone else isn't paying you, you're having to go out there and find that money. You know, you're going to have, you know, if you've got loads, do you get what I'm saying? So if you don't do it, you'll regret it and you'll never do it. You've just got to make that step, haven't you? And I know a few people just recently have made that step and they, and they like myself in the past, I said, it's the best thing you could ever do is become your own boss, basically, you know.
Saxon DurrantHi (08:00.961) Mmm.
Saxon DurrantHi (08:08.083) Yeah.
Saxon DurrantHi (08:17.93) Yeah, yeah, I mean, you generally work longer hours and you know, you don't have paid holidays and things like that. There's all that side of it, but the kind of personal meaning you get from it and the fact that you're doing it on your own terms and the kind of freedom you have, you know, within certain constraints. But the fact you're doing it for yourself and you know, you are, you know, you're only as good as your last sale and you have the work, you are the work, you know, so it's and you are the job. You're not.
making money for someone else, it's all on you. And that sounds daunting, but if you get it right and you do it well and you do work hard, then the personal meaning you get from it is wonderful, self-worth.
Ed Bailey (09:01.166) Hmm. Yeah. So rewarding, isn't it? Definitely. So back to back to the Metro retro story. Where do we go from uni then Saxon?
Saxon DurrantHi (09:06.775) Yeah.
Saxon DurrantHi (09:17.506) Yeah, left uni and I was still doing stuff in Camden and I shared a shop in Canonbury Lane in Islington for three, four years with a guy called Chris Farlow who I met up in Camden. And he was a singer in the 60s. He had a number one hit called Out of Time that was written for him by The Stones and the shop was called Out of Time.
which has worked quite well. And yeah, Chris was a real character, still is a real character, he's still around, he's still touring now. And yeah, incredible voice. If you ever get the chance to go on YouTube and have a look at him singing with Otis Redding, you know, it's quite something. He was a, yeah, great guy. So yeah, I shared a shot with him for a while and then got the opportunity in 1999 to have another shot a bit closer to...
Angel in Islington, the other end of Upper Street. And I went in with that with someone else as well, but their finances sort of dried up. So they said to me one day, I can't afford the rent this month. It's on you if you wanna take it on. So I said, okay, I'll do that. By this time I had a website, I think the website started in 97, I think. So I was starting to sell online to some very kind of early adopters of online shopping who were very...
brave people because it was five pages with a photo on each page. That was it. I remember selling to one guy who was really a very early adopter because he wanted his office fitting out with a lot of the stuff I was doing at the time, a lot of the strip metal stuff, the very industrial look. He just told me what he wanted with this list and said, here's the deposit. Let me know when you've got it all done.
Ed Bailey (10:50.115) Yeah.
Saxon DurrantHi (11:13.55) So he hadn't seen anything I'd actually got. And so I thought, wow, you're really trusting. But I got a van load together for him, everything he wanted, took it down. I think it was on the South Coast somewhere. And yeah, he loved it all. And I thought this online shopping thing, this internet thing, this could be the way forward. So yeah, that started happening, you know. And then I started doing commercial stuff in...
2000, I think, kicking out gastropubbers, most of the punch tabbans who had a big rollout program at the time. So I got in with them and that was a real rollercoaster. That was going from just ticking over and doing okay, making a wage to things getting really ramped up because they wanted entire pubs fitting out with vintage furniture. And it was like,
80 chairs, we need five sofas, we need a run of enamel factory lights, what can you do? So I kind of got onto all my contacts and that kind of machine started happening as well and yeah that was a real sort of upward trajectory. And then kind of at the same time I started doing visual merchandising mostly for fashion retail and that really...
took off as well as the pubs. So those two kind of things, the kind of zones of the public kind of fell by the wayside almost because it was so busy doing this other stuff. And in 2001, I started making stuff as well, largely due to a phone call from one of the interior architects from one of the pubs saying, we haven't got enough tables for two. And I said, well, they were never made. They don't exist at 700 mil square top.
Ed Bailey (12:50.591) Mm.
Ed Bailey (13:07.21) No.
Saxon DurrantHi (13:10.062) table vintage isn't really out there. So this, she said, can you make something, just make something with a steel frame, put some old floorboards on top, kind of punk rock aesthetic, DIY culture sort of thing. So I got in touch with someone who could weld and he made some frames for me. And that was the start of all that way back then. And so that, I was running that alongside the vintage stuff as well. So then I became a one-stop shop for
Ed Bailey (13:22.97) Mm-hmm.
Saxon DurrantHi (13:40.166) architects and designers and that sort of thing whereby I could provide all the vintage stuff they wanted and bespoke stuff as well. So that was a really busy time. It sort of peaked about 2012, 2013 when there was a lot of cheap money around and everything, you know, fashion brands were expanding, restaurant brands were expanding. It was just a mad time.
Ed Bailey (14:03.215) And it was quite sustainable as well what you were doing actually because you were using a lot of reclaim stuff as well weren't you? So it was a sort of a good ethos as well that you were supplying to them I suppose.
Saxon DurrantHi (14:16.03) Yeah, oh yeah, tick boxes for them. They were very happy that they could say they were using Reclaim. I guess it keeps their board of directors happy with the kind of zeitgeist of, yeah, their kind of customers who wanna see more of that kind of thing. So yeah, I was pumping as much Reclaim in as I possibly could. Yeah, I mean, there were times when I couldn't. If something needed to be made out of oak veneered MDF, that's what it was made out of, and unfortunately that...
there's nothing you can do about that. And all the steel was new, obviously. There wasn't really loads and loads of secondhand steel out there that happens to be the right size for a pub fit out. So, but yeah, I was always trying to put as much reclaim and salvage into any job as I could. Even if they didn't ask for it, I would just slip a little bit in there somewhere.
Ed Bailey (15:09.822) Yeah, but I suppose as well that sort of time the prices were quite good Weren't they with steel and sort of obviously reclaim, you know, you were getting good prices So you're getting good margins as well But then you know sort of after that time the prices in steel and stuff like that and even now like timber the prices in timber It's just ridiculous and it's terrible as well Isn't it like the new timber that you get if you get like a bit forward to now, it's just dreadful. I think anyway
Saxon DurrantHi (15:35.966) Yeah, yeah, you can you can put your finger between the rings, can't you? So that sounds a bit rude, doesn't it? You think the growth rings? Yeah, it's.
Ed Bailey (15:40.35) Yeah, yeah. Yeah, it's terror. You know, like if you get an old bit of pine reclaimed pine and it's sort of like what you would find like that subpoena or something like that. Now, you know, it's not near enough a hardwood class, you know, but it's nowhere near a hardwood class, you know. Yeah, it's just got massively downhill just growing too quickly, isn't it? I think so. Yeah, not, not good. Yeah.
Saxon DurrantHi (15:55.787) Yeah.
Saxon DurrantHi (16:00.392) Oh yeah, yeah.
Saxon DurrantHi (16:08.478) Yeah, definitely. Yeah.
Ed Bailey (16:10.294) Yeah, I always recommend that to people if they're, if they can find some good reclaimed timber, it's always miles better than the stuff that you go and get down at your local builder's merchant, basically, because that's all shipped over fast grow.
Saxon DurrantHi (16:23.262) Yeah. And it's very, very vindicating for all those guys who've got sheds with full of wood just in case, you know, that will come in handy one day. They're kind of, they're kind of, you know, they're laughing on the other side now because, you know, it's all coming true, you know, what all those bits of wood they got stacked in their sheds for, you know, the old job here and there, you know, that's all free, isn't it? You know, so they've paid for it already. You know, so it's, yeah, yeah.
Ed Bailey (16:33.041) Yeah.
Ed Bailey (16:44.985) Yeah.
Yeah.
Yeah, no.
Saxon DurrantHi (16:52.908) The man in the shed is having the last laugh.
Ed Bailey (16:56.21) So after the big fitting out of all the pubs and clothing brands and things like that, what happened after that? Because obviously you got picked up for Salvage Hunters, the restorers TV, didn't you? So was that sort of on the next step? Was it?
Saxon DurrantHi (17:10.878) Yeah, yeah, that was, yeah, I was on the show with Drew in 2015. In fact, on that program, you can see us, we were doing a big order for the biggest customer I ever had, actually, which was Holy Cow in Switzerland. Used to do all their freestanding furniture. I mean, I found an old order from them. In fact, I've got it here. I dug it out. I kept it because I was looking for a drawing the other day.
can't find it now. But yeah, I found an order from them from 2013 and the list was just like, you know, 68 benches, five counters, 40 tables, 50 bar stools, and it just went on and on and on. And that's what we were doing, that's what we were churning out, you know, five days a week, it was just non-stop. So yeah, that was kind of shown on that program a little bit. Yeah, so I was on that and then they came back to me
in 2018 for series two of the restorers. And obviously on that program, I'm just a dealer. I'm not a restorer, even though I am a, I do all my own restoration, but for the purposes of that program, I was just on there giving the restorer what I wanted restoring and bookending the story, just telling the audience about the item, what needed to do into it. Then it would go off and the...
the magic of the restoration would happen. And then at the end of that, I'd get it handed back, usually from under a sheet, which would be whipped off. And then you'd see the finished result. And then you'd say how amazing it was and how much you were gonna sell it for and all this kind of stuff. So it was a fairly simple concept, but it was that program. It's about restoration. It's not about making money or being a dealer really. It's just...
that was just, we were just putting it all in context.
Ed Bailey (19:10.718) Yeah, so you could sort of see what goes into a lot of the time when you are a dealer having to take it to these restorers and then getting the best out of it. And yeah, really enjoyed watching the salvage handles restorers. It's such a great program because you get just little tips as well. Don't you from it, which, you know, which is great. Yeah, no. Yeah.
Saxon DurrantHi (19:28.746) Yeah, yeah. And those guys are all, they all run restoration business. We're all the dealers on there are genuine dealers, full time who, have been in the trade for a good few years. So yeah, it's a good bunch.
Ed Bailey (19:47.562) Who's your favorite Restorers accent? Do you have a favorite? Oh, come on! You must have a little slight favorite that you just think oh wow whenever you see him do something
Saxon DurrantHi (19:51.238) Oh god, I couldn't say that. I'd be putting far too many noses out of joint.
Saxon DurrantHi (20:05.018) I mean, I always got on well with Alex. I mean, we had such a good laugh when we were doing lots of stuff with him in the first, in series two and three. I think he was still on it, in series four, I think he was. Yeah, he was, yeah. Yeah, because that was just, it was pre-COVID as well. So the crew was a bit bigger. The kind of lunch was a bit nicer. You know, we would, yeah, we didn't have anything like COVID to worry about. So it was...
Ed Bailey (20:33.372) Mm.
Saxon DurrantHi (20:35.567) I'd rock up there at nine o'clock and we'd be done by about midday one o'clock if it was just one item. And yeah, he was just very relaxed. He'd been on Salvage Hunters, the main show for a few years. So he was well used to it. My first ever day of filming on that show was with Alex. So he was giving me all the tips and everything. So yeah, I got on really well with him. We're still in touch.
even though he's not on the show anymore. And Robin, he was one of Alex's replacements. I got on really well with him as well, down in Hastings. I just think we had a similar sense of humor.
Ed Bailey (21:08.698) Yes. No, it is.
Ed Bailey (21:14.815) And then after Salvage Hunters, it was the greatest auction where I sort of met you down there for very briefly, but you sort of had a bigger role, which was really cool. I mean, I love that just going down, he went down there for one day, but it was such a big production, wasn't it? I mean, was that a lot, obviously a lot bigger than the Restorers, you know.
Saxon DurrantHi (21:23.768) Yeah!
Saxon DurrantHi (21:32.418) Yeah.
It was really nice to see a friendly face actually when you turned up. Yeah, I was feeling a bit out of my depth there but yeah, I mean hopefully I did alright there. I was there for six days but you'd never know that from the amount of time I was on the screen. It was like blink and you'll miss it. But yeah, I did what they asked me to do and yeah, learnt a lot from it and yeah, it was a good experience.
Ed Bailey (21:38.596) Yeah
Ed Bailey (21:42.659) It was, yeah.
Ed Bailey (21:53.346) Mm.
Ed Bailey (22:00.662) Yeah, I mean that show was a bit of another level in stuff. You know, there was a Banksy or well, it weren't a Banksy. I don't think I think it came out. It wasn't a Banksy in the end or something like that. That was very strange. And then they had, yeah, they had some bonkers things, didn't they? They even had some bonkers, you know, I remember looking, I was in the ring as such where they brought you into film.
Saxon DurrantHi (22:09.538) No.
Saxon DurrantHi (22:13.88) Yeah.
Ed Bailey (22:25.046) and then they brought out the item in the auction piece. And I can remember looking through out the back and there was like a taxidermy unicorn and like all these different things stored in this little back room, wasn't it? That obviously were part of the auction. And you didn't get to see some of the stuff because some of the stuff didn't actually sell because the stuff did really sell, you know, and they sort of only showed. And then obviously there was a lot of items that didn't make the reserves and didn't sell. So they didn't show some of the items, did they? You know, but you...
Saxon DurrantHi (22:26.763) Mmm.
Saxon DurrantHi (22:34.292) Yeah.
Saxon DurrantHi (22:51.798) Yeah, no, no. So yeah, there was two or three I can think of that I was involved with that didn't go. They did show two or three things that didn't make their reserve. So they did show that it wasn't all kind of flying out the door.
Ed Bailey (23:00.555) Yeah.
Ed Bailey (23:07.454) Yeah, yeah, but yeah, obviously that's not very good TV when things don't sell. So have you got much like... Yeah, yeah, I... Yeah, actually, I agree because there was... When I'd done the filming for the Great Antiques Challenge, there was a couple of times where the dealer... Both dealers...
Saxon DurrantHi (23:14.798) I dunno, I think it makes it more real. I think they should have left them in and maybe done a longer series, but.
Ed Bailey (23:35.362) had items and then the contributor who came in and wanted us to find something, they really liked both items. So they bought all the items, but then production were like, oh no, we can't have that, we've already had that once. You're gonna have to pick just one. Do you get what I'm saying? So I'm not thinking, all right, just let whoever have it.
Saxon DurrantHi (23:44.714) Mmm.
Saxon DurrantHi (23:57.814) Yeah.
Ed Bailey (24:03.086) you know what I mean, the so-called win or whatever it is. But it's like, it would have been so much more real and truthful, you know, I just couldn't understand why, but TV's a bit like that. Just tell the truth, you know, like she came on, she bought all of the items, you know, like that, just because you've had it once, it can happen again, you know, so, yeah, you know, I think that there should be.
Saxon DurrantHi (24:07.423) Yeah.
Saxon DurrantHi (24:17.014) Yeah.
Saxon DurrantHi (24:24.254) Yeah, they tend to stick to their formats. You know, the formats are very rarely broken. You know, once it's set in stone, once it's been signed off, you know, if they started, you know, going too far off message, then yeah, they'd be in trouble from the people at the top of the thing.
Ed Bailey (24:35.009) That's it.
Ed Bailey (24:43.446) Yeah, yeah, I sort of learned that. Yeah, I didn't sort of realize that until you start working and doing a little bit of TV, you just, you know, it blew my mind to start with. Now I'm permanently looking at TV thinking what is actually going on, you know? Do you get what I mean? Are you doing that? Like thinking, yeah, that was all, yeah. It spoils your TV experience, doesn't it? No.
Saxon DurrantHi (24:58.61) Yeah.
Saxon DurrantHi (25:02.314) Oh god yeah. Yeah. Yeah I think it... Oh it ruins it, yeah. It ruins it. The worst thing for me is what they call a dirty single, which is where you... it's not what it sounds like, but it's where the camera's behind you and instead of just seeing the person that's answering the question, you see a bit of the head of the person asking it and you see them moving their lips and they're never ever...
Ed Bailey (25:16.554) Right?
Saxon DurrantHi (25:31.998) synced because the person at this end is saying something completely different to what the person at the other end is answering. You get a lot of dramas as well and yeah it just ruins it.
Ed Bailey (25:33.006) No.
Ed Bailey (25:39.114) Yeah, yes.
Yeah, yeah, I see you.
Ed Bailey (25:48.327) As soon as you're on TV, it ruins your TV experience. So have you got any, what have you got planned for the future, Saxon? Have you got anything up and coming? I know you talked about your big projects over the Christmas, but have you got anything else sort of coming up?
Saxon DurrantHi (25:51.179) It does, it does.
Saxon DurrantHi (26:05.14) I'm going to do more fairs next year, that's for sure. Definitely the way forward because Instagram and internet shopping are, you know, they've taken a bit of a tumble really, so I think getting out there and seeing the people and yeah, it's always nice to meet the customers. It's a different...
different experience and it's the purest form of being an antiques dealer as well. You know, you go out there with your stuff, you put it on the ground, someone comes up, falls in love with it, gives you some money, they take it away and that's it. That's the kind of purest form going, isn't it? That's how it started and luckily how it's still going on. It's not given way purely to online. You can still do it on the ground, literally.
Ed Bailey (26:56.306) Hmm. Yeah, I totally agree because there was a, I've really enjoyed seeing that it's now taking a switch back to more fairs, you know that, because obviously Instagram was great doing the, this COVID thing, you know, the lockdowns and all that sort of thing. It really did help out loads of business, especially in the antiques, vintage interior community. They all came together. The money was swirling around. People weren't going without, you know, but it's so great.
to the people are getting out face to face dealing. I mean, that's where it's at. That's where you build that rapport with people. That's where, you know, you get the best deals if you're buying, you know, you get the best deals if you go out and see people because you can talk to them. You know, you can build a rapport in that way and get them to find you items and things like that. Yeah, no, definitely really happy that it's taking that turn again. You know, get out there, do plenty of fairs. Yeah. So did you, did you...
Saxon DurrantHi (27:33.686) Yeah.
Saxon DurrantHi (27:42.999) Yeah.
Saxon DurrantHi (27:54.06) Yeah.
Ed Bailey (27:54.818) Did you bring some items to show us? Yeah, you did. Yeah, yeah, you did, didn't you? Yeah, brilliant.
Saxon DurrantHi (27:58.518) Yeah, I did.
Yeah, I mean, this is a slightly old one. These are more symbolic really than, they're not like here's object X, I'm selling it sort of thing. So my first thing,
Ed Bailey (28:10.214) Yeah, yeah, no, I like that. Well, we like to have objects now that we're sort of being we're going on YouTube So it's nice to have some visual stuff So all the people you know, saxon's going to describe these for all of you listening on spotify and all the other Pods goes what I think he's going to
Saxon DurrantHi (28:24.182) I'm not going to go down so much a rabbit hole describing it for the benefits of listeners though because then daddy's done all the look, you know. Anyway, I digress.
Ed Bailey (28:30.895) Right, okay, go for it. Right, go. Right, okay. Right.
Saxon DurrantHi (28:34.326) This is symbolic, okay, this is a gorgeous bit of roofing board. And this is just symbolic of why I do what I do. I've sanded this bit, this bit's in the rough. And this is what the kind of antiques and salvage game is all about. Because this bit looks like nothing. It looks rotten. Just doesn't look anything at all. This bit, five minutes of sanding. And that's what I've got. And these are actually going through a...
Ed Bailey (28:39.596) Right?
Ed Bailey (28:43.246) Yeah.
Ed Bailey (28:59.374) Mmm, mmm, nice.
Saxon DurrantHi (29:02.658) project at home I'm building a feature wall in our guest bedroom but these boards they're classic roofing boards about 16mm thick and they're 180mm wide and these came these were on top of a walk-in fridge at a farm up the road that I cleared out a few years ago and yeah I was I was up on the roof of this walk-in fridge and there was all these old farm shop signs there was a harp
Ed Bailey (29:07.098) noise.
Saxon DurrantHi (29:31.766) belong to one of the family's great aunts or something. There was loads of stuff there. And then I thought, what am I walking on this? What is this stuff? And I realized what it was. So I quickly made them a cheeky offer for it and said, look, I'll take everything. There's probably about 40% of it was woodwormy as anything on a farm is. If ever you go to a farm sale, before you buy anything, reckon that you're gonna be using a lot of Woodworm Killer. That's my top tip for the day.
So yeah, I just wanted to show that because it's a bit of salvage and it just shows why it's such an important business because that bit of wood underneath all that grot and dirt is slow-grown quality. It's got gorgeous patina to it. It's got a lovely color. And you can't fake that. And it's something I'm gonna use in my own house, just this particular batch. And that's what it's all about. It's just taking something that's
Ed Bailey (30:02.85) You can make... Yeah.
Ed Bailey (30:18.531) Mm.
Saxon DurrantHi (30:29.718) that's old and kind of been stuck in the same place for years. I mean, the thrill of finding it, you know, making that first discovery as well. That's another rabbit hole we could go down. You know, the fact that, yes, dealers buy from fairs, they buy from auction. That's the job. Yeah, that's the bread and butter work. But if you get the chance to go in on the ground level and find something for the first time that's been.
tucked away somewhere in the dark and you're the first person to shine a torch on it and see it from that perspective of a, not just a dealer who's going to make money out of it, but just see it, just see the beauty in it that no one's had, that no one's seen for years. That is very special, I think. That's really where I get my kind of thrills from, you know.
Ed Bailey (31:14.718) Is that what you, yeah, that's the buzz, isn't it? Yeah, I mean, I'm, it's getting harder and harder, isn't it, to find items that aren't, that are fresh to the market, because I think obviously people have got the internet to go to, to see what things are worth. They've got more time to sort of.
Saxon DurrantHi (31:19.679) Yeah, sadly it doesn't happen anymore.
Saxon DurrantHi (31:24.726) Yeah.
Ed Bailey (31:39.882) research things before you get to them I suppose and I think another one of the I think another one of finding these items as well is sometimes you find an item and then you get it back and it's not until you research it that you realize what it is and then you've learned something do you have that as well I mean I get a lot of that I deal in a lot of smaller like books and done
Saxon DurrantHi (31:42.353) Mm.
Yeah.
Saxon DurrantHi (32:03.787) Yeah!
Ed Bailey (32:08.99) different, you know, I buy massive lots of books and I'm sort of going through the books and you'll find one that is It doesn't look anything and then you look into it and it's by say a famous Architect or sculptor and it's got engravings in or I mean this This back here this little parrot. Yeah, you can see it's an engraving So it's done by Benjamin Waterhouse Hawkins
Saxon DurrantHi (32:24.599) Mm.
Ed Bailey (32:37.582) So it doesn't, it just looks like a normal engraving. Well, he was the guy that done the sculptures for the Crystal Palace dinosaurs. Right? Yeah, yeah. So that is, he was that guy. And that was, you know, and then you look them up and they're like, worth like, you know, they just, when they come to auction, they go for big money. But for anybody else, it was just a parrot engraving, not even a painting, just a, you know.
Saxon DurrantHi (32:46.642) Oh wow, right, that's still there.
Saxon DurrantHi (32:59.621) Mm.
Ed Bailey (33:06.262) So yeah, so it's always, you know, I find that a lot looking, you know, up things, and then you really realise how good they are. So is that the main thing that really gets you going is trying to find that antique or piece of vintage or salvage, is that what really gets you going?
Saxon DurrantHi (33:07.243) Yeah.
Saxon DurrantHi (33:17.908) Mm.
Saxon DurrantHi (33:32.558) Yeah, I'm particularly finding, you know, when I used to do the odd factory clearance, just seeing something from a different perspective, that the people that have been around that item for donkey's years just haven't seen because it's part of the furniture, literally. Yeah, and just seeing something from a new perspective. I mean, I did a big tool factory up in Sheffield years ago and they hadn't had any investment there probably since the...
50s in that they were still using Victorian trolleys to move things around on, you know, because they started in the 19th century and they were still using that stuff. And, you know, the stuff I got out of there was just incredible. And just when I got it as well, the industrial look was at its absolute height and it just absolutely flew out. And I tried to tell people the story of where it had come from, you know, and as much as I could, you know, whenever I got the chance.
They just loved it. They really kind of engaged with it. And I mean, I've still got a few bits from that job I just hung on to and not, you know, I thought, I'll never see the likes of that again. You know, it was not a once in a lifetime. I've done others since, but that was just a particularly good one. And yeah, it was just the patina on, I know Deal has gone about patina, but it's such an important thing.
Ed Bailey (34:56.218) Yeah, it's a big word. Yeah.
Saxon DurrantHi (34:58.642) It's a big word, it's a big subject. And yeah, the patina that all this stuff had gained over the years was just magical. It really was. And because I was in there at the ground level, I was literally taking it out of the factory and it hadn't been through auction, it hadn't been through fairs, other people's hands or anything like that. It was, that was just very special, you know? And I was going to bits of the factory, you know, basements and stuff that dark and dingy places in it.
just with a torch and stuff like that. And that's just magical when you can get to do that. And even if you only do that once in your career as a dealer, it's something you never forget, I think.
Ed Bailey (35:38.606) Yeah, it's great. Yeah, I must admit, I'd love to be able to do some of those big house calls, you know, probably haven't quite got enough funds in the bank to do it, but it would be amazing to, you know, because that's where it's at, isn't it? You know, you see Drew when he goes into some of these places, he gets access to them. And you just think amazing, all the stuff is just absolutely incredible. You know, the stuff out.
Saxon DurrantHi (36:05.058) Yeah.
Ed Bailey (36:05.162) in some of these people's sort of barns and sheds, you know, you'd be like, snap, something people's hands off with you basically. So yeah, no. So it's a great thing, isn't it, antique dealer? What do you think draws people to it? Do you think it is sort of that finding something special, treasure hunting? What's your sort of take on why people become an antiques dealer or, you know?
Saxon DurrantHi (36:12.086) Yeah.
Saxon DurrantHi (36:32.122) I think I'm going to cut to the chase. I think it's human connection. I think people are looking to something that's out of the human lifespan, you know, something that was around before they were. And if well looked after, we'll continue, you know, isn't, it isn't mortal, you know, it's not something that's going to live and die. It just kind of goes on. And by the time they get to it, you know, it's already had
most of its life before it, you know, well all of its life before it obviously, but you know, and it's gained the patina, it's had the history, it's, you know, it's the old adage, isn't it? If only it could talk, it's that kind of thing. But yeah, I think people just see a human connection, you know, this was here before I was, you know, this was owned by someone else and it's just, it's a sign that we go on, you know, it's a sign that history happens, you know, and it...
Ed Bailey (37:21.219) Yeah.
Saxon DurrantHi (37:28.682) it's happened and it's going to happen and the future is ahead of us and this chest of drawers or whatever it is will still be here and I can hand it on to someone else and it's kind of not immortal but it's a tangible object that proves we were here. Because we do live in a material world, you can be materialistic or not, but we do live in a world where we're defined by the objects around us because it's what we've made and what we've done.
Ed Bailey (37:47.865) Hmm.
Saxon DurrantHi (37:57.622) built up, literally from buildings to a box of matches. It's all made by the hand of man, isn't it? And the antiques trade kind of trades on the kind of stuff left behind, if you like. So it's because the capitalist model is you buy something, it has its life, you chuck it away, it goes in the ground. But the antiques trade kind of bucks that trend and says, well, no, we're not going to do it like that. This is decent stuff. We're going to
Ed Bailey (38:21.874) Mmm.
Saxon DurrantHi (38:27.054) we're going to keep it going, look at the design, look how it was made, look what's gone into it. Someone put their energy into that and that energy is still there.
Ed Bailey (38:30.53) Yeah, definitely.
Ed Bailey (38:36.426) Yeah, I totally agree with the energy thing. I think you really do, especially certain things that have got that patina on it. Like you say that something has been held or touched in a certain place by so many hands and by so many people, but it really does have an energy to it. And I think that's what draws people to it, especially us antiques dealer. Like you said, that's a big word, that patina, that wear, the stuff that you can't fake, you know, yeah, definitely.
Saxon DurrantHi (38:46.367) Mmm.
Saxon DurrantHi (38:53.495) Yeah.
Saxon DurrantHi (39:01.695) Mmm.
Saxon DurrantHi (39:05.29) Yeah, I think if you go into a room and there's something old in it, that object has got a kind of totemic quality, it's got a stillness to it and a kind of gravitas. You know, you think, wow, this is this is older than me. This is, you know, and it is only an object. You know, you're putting your own meaning onto it. But yeah, I mean, if I'm looking around like a National Trust place, I love going around, you know, old houses, obviously, you know, being
dealer and that you can't, it's like going to church, you know, it really is. And if you go on a quiet day and you're the only person in that room and you're just looking at what's around you and it's, you know, it is the nearest dealer will get to a religious experience, I think, because it's just so special, you know, being around that stuff and the, the silence, the stillness, it's just, yeah, it's a very, very special thing. It's a lovely thing to be able to experience.
Ed Bailey (39:35.889) Yeah, yes
Ed Bailey (39:59.854) Yeah, no, it's um, it is well, that's what makes us. I love that, you know going and even looking at certain pieces of art as well Have that feeling as well sculptures, you know Architecture as well. You really get that from architecture as well. Don't you because you realized You have to think about How was that done and then it takes you to a place inwards? I think once you
Saxon DurrantHi (40:13.324) Yeah.
Ed Bailey (40:24.33) see some sort of a piece of craftsmanship, either whether it be an antique, a piece of architecture, a painting, you know, it goes into you and you really think, how did they do that? You know, they must have been incredibly skilled to do this certain piece, yeah. So it takes you inward in that way, in a philosophical sort of way, you know, which is great. Saxon, we've been talking for 40 minutes now. It goes...
Saxon DurrantHi (40:24.586) Mm.
Saxon DurrantHi (40:38.508) Yeah.
Ed Bailey (40:53.714) enjoyed this incredibly. It goes so quick. Obviously, we'll have to have you on again and chat some more. I think there's something that would be great to really touch on is like this sort of side of things, talking more about the energy with different items and the craftsmanship and what draws people to antiques. I mean, we'll probably have to do a full episode or something on it at some point, won't we mate? Just...
Saxon DurrantHi (40:54.93) It goes quick.
Ed Bailey (41:22.402) Just before you go, can a lot, I put people on the spot, say Instagram, say websites, can you recommend a few dealers, you know, who you know, maybe in sort of like this modern mid-century, you know, because you're sort of a bit more of a specialist in that sort of area where people can go and to go to sort of see that, you know, obviously apart from yourself and MetroRetro, because everybody knows about that.
Saxon DurrantHi (41:42.924) Yeah.
Saxon DurrantHi (41:51.914) Well, I can definitely recommend that. I mean, a good starting point is the modern shows website, and that's Petra and Lucy who run the mid-century show in Dulwich. They have a thing within their website called the Modern Marketplace. And that's a directory of dealers in mid-century and modernism. So that's a really good starting point. But in terms of individual dealers, who I think are kind of pushing the boundaries,
A lot of the guys that are doing kind of the kind of brutalist stuff and the primitive stuff mixing that up with a bit of modernism as well. That really excites me because that's kind of where things are going. I mean, it's their presentation is amazing and you know, it's not the kind of stuff you're going to find in your average semi but it's a good way of kind of showcasing that kind of look.
and it's a bit of a niche look, but it's one that actually you can mix with quite a few different looks. And I'm struggling now to think of some people, some actual individual accounts, my mind's gone blank.
Ed Bailey (43:01.754) Yeah, that's... No, that's...
That's fine. No, don't worry. You don't know. I won't put you on the spot to name names, but that's really cool, actually, because I. Yeah.
Saxon DurrantHi (43:07.784) Yeah.
Saxon DurrantHi (43:12.878) they're all going to come to me as soon as we've stopped they're all going to come to me but yes i mean those guys that are just presenting antiques and vintage in a ways that haven't been done before just really imaginatively that those are the guys that really and girls that really excite me because they're pushing the envelope you know which is what it's all about you know if the antiques industry is going to survive you know beyond the age of where flat pack furniture is going to start coming into auctions then you know this kind of stuff has to be represented
Ed Bailey (43:41.878) Yeah, no, very true. And that's it. And they're setting trends. You know, that's what it's all about, isn't it? You know, having your own ideas, having your own style, set some trends, get it out there. You know, like you say, if not, if not, it would all be flat back furniture from wherever, won't it? Right, Saxon. Well, mate, thank you ever so much for coming on. And everybody out there, go check Saxon out. Obviously, you can find him on TV. I think you all know what he does.
Saxon DurrantHi (43:51.311) Mm. Yeah.
Saxon DurrantHi (43:58.94) Yeah.
Ed Bailey (44:09.538) Saxon on Salvatrack as a restorer. And then just go to even Instagram, you're MetroRetro on Instagram, aren't you Saxon? And is that the same for your website?
Saxon DurrantHi (44:18.206) At MetroRetro LTD, so as in limited LTD after MetroRetro. MetroRetro.co.uk is the website.
Ed Bailey (44:23.619) Yeah, cool.
Ed Bailey (44:28.018) Yeah. Right. So everybody, Saxon, Duran, thank you very much. And, um, please. Yeah. And, um, please come and check out all the, um, other episodes as well. Everybody there on, um, YouTube, Spotify, and where you can find most of your, um, podcasts, um, out there basically. So thanks very much. Right. Thank you. Appreciate it. Right. Cheers, Saxon. Thanks mate.
Saxon DurrantHi (44:31.926) Pleasure Ed, see you soon.
Saxon DurrantHi (44:47.278) They're very good. I've liked and subscribed.
Saxon DurrantHi (44:56.37) Okay, see you soon.
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