‘If I had devoted as much time to academia as I did to cricket and rugby I would surely have been, at the very least, a double Oxbridge first” he says. However, life “as a sports teacher was not for him and he took up the post of trainee auctioneer in Worcester, working in the local livestock market – much of the time spent cleaning out the sheep pens…”a task, some would maintain, I was suitably qualified for, as by then I was completely unemployable.’ 

From there, Philip Serrell re-qualified as a Chartered Surveyor, specialising as a Fine Art and antique valuer, which in turn resulted in him running his own auctioneering business, Philip Serrell Auctioneers and Valuers in 1995.

Since then, the business has gone from strength to strength and now specialises in the sale and valuation of Royal Worcester Porcelain, as well as other items of Fine Art and Antiques, with clients worldwide.

He is now a regular face on many antique-related television programmes such as Bargain Hunt, Flog It, Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is, and The Antiques Roadtrip, often along with Great British Speaker David Harper. He was also a winning competitor on Celebrity Mastermind!

More recently he has also appeared on the 20th Century Roadshow, presenting their classic car feature – a role which he embraced as it allowed him to indulge his other passion for motor cars.

Philip has published three books to day, including:

An Auctioneer’s Lot (2005) features some of the wonderful characters and situations that he has met along the way whilst in the auctioneering business.

Sold to the Man With the Tin Leg (2006) continues with more heart-warming anecdotal stories.

What Am I Bid (2022) tells his story of how he went from counting sheep to selling silverware.