‘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 from his saleroom in Malvern and office in Worcester. Philip recorded a regular antique slot on his local BBC radio station, and from there he went on to become a resident ‘expert’ on several BBC television programmes – namely Bargain Hunt and Flog It! 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.
2009/2010 saw Philip participating in Antiques Roadtrip and Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is, both for the BBC with another Great British Speaker the fabulous David Harper.
In 2005, Philip Serrell had his first book, An Auctioneer’s Lot, published by Hodder & Stoughton. In it, he writes about many of the wonderful characters and situations that he has met along the way whilst in the auctioneering business. He admits to having a never-ending supply of stories about valuable antiques appearing in the most unlikely of places – accompanied by surprising and fascinating people – from a priceless 18th Century dining table hidden away in a decaying potting shed, to that of a tattooed gypsy with a penchant for Worcester Porcelain.
His second book, Sold to the Man With the Tin Leg, was published in June of 2006, again by Hodder & Stoughton, and continues with more hilarious and heart-warming anecdotal stories.
