Sotheby's is currently undergoing a 'consultation period' with staff based in its London headquarters.
Sotheby’s is currently entering a ‘consultation period’ with staff from its London office, although ATG understands that no decisions about individual roles have yet been made.
While the firm would not confirm the total number of redundancies, it is not believed to exceed 10% of the current workforce in the UK.
A spokesman said: “London is and will continue to be our largest and most important centre for sales, exhibitions and talent in Europe and our second biggest sales location in the world. We just opened one of the best exhibitions we’ve ever staged on New Bond Street, running alongside our exciting June and July auctions.”
The Financial Times also reported last week that senior figures at Christie’s had confirmed redundancies at the firm.
While Christie’s declined to comment on the numbers of people leaving or the departments affected, a spokesperson said in a statement sent to ATG: “We constantly review our global resourcing needs to ensure we remain commercially resilient and adaptable. This can impact roles. But we can confirm that we are not in a collective consultation process.”
At the end of last year Christie’s reported total preliminary sales across its business (including auctions, private sales and other revenue) of $6.2bn (£5bn) in 2023, down 25% on the previous year.
Sotheby’s full-year results for 2023 indicated total sales were marginally down on the previous year at $7.9bn (£6.2bn).
Bonhams, meanwhile, has already made some redundancies earlier this year. A spokesperson said: “There were some redundancies at the start of the year as part of a review for staffing requirements globally.”
