Championing Cumbria throughout Britain and the wider world

Flying the Flag for Cumbria 

Sponsored by the University of Cumbria 

1818 Auctioneers 

1818 Auctioneers, which is based at the Junction 36 Rural Auction Centre, is now in its third century of auctioneering. The business holds 190 online timed auctions annually and serves a local, national, and international customer base. 
The business is continuing to grow and innovate while introducing new audiences to the tradition of buying and selling at auction. 
A recent change to the business model, prompted by the restrictions on people gathering indoors during the pandemic, has seen it move all of its auctions to an online and timed format. This means customers from anywhere in the world have 17 days to browse and bid on the items featured in each catalogue. 
This innovative shift has led to a three-fold increase in the number of annual auctions offered from 66 auctions in 2019, to 190 auctions this year. The business has also refocused the calendar of auctions with a regular schedule of three sales: vintage, antique and collectable items, furniture and furnishings, and prints and pictures. These are complemented by a specialist auction series running across the year, which includes music, jewellery, silver, militaria, coins, toys, textiles and more. 
The result is an increasing reputation on a national and global level. 
1818 has seen a 15 per cent increase in turnover and record profits and planning permission has recently been confirmed for its third building at the auction centre, a 14,000 sq ft saleroom. 

Cumbria Tourism 

Cumbria Tourism flies the flag for Cumbria by promoting the whole county regionally, nationally, and internationally as a world class visitor destination that has something for everyone and truly is #theperfectplacetobe.  
As a not-for-profit organisation, Cumbria Tourism is 95 per cent commercially funded and income made by the company is used to market the destination to visitors, benefiting both its members and Cumbria’s wider visitor economy. 
Its activities include increasing Cumbria’s appeal as a year-round destination through targeted marketing and PR campaigns promoting the county, while seasonal marketing is key to ensuring sustainable tourism businesses and job security, with the 2022/23 successful winter marketing campaign reaching 19.2 million people. 
Cumbria Tourism’s marketing campaigns encourage visitors to explore the whole of Cumbria to build a strong visitor economy, which is vital as Covid-19 had a devastating impact on the tourism industry. In 2019 Cumbria received 48 million visitors, who spent over £3 billion. In 2020, 24 million visited, bringing in £1.6 billion. Tourism jobs fell by 45 per cent. Through intensive campaigning and marketing, by 2022 Cumbria’s visitor’s economy had recovered to the level where the county received 41 million visitors, who collectively brought in £4.12 billion to the region's economy and provided employment for 43,562 full-time equivalent posts. 
Cumbria Tourism is also involved in efforts to promote Cumbria internationally, as well as championing it as an accessible destination and planning for the future by increasing the county’s appeal to younger and family markets. 

Fine Art Restoration Company 

Fine Art Restoration Company is putting Cumbria on the map as the home for the conservation and restoration of world-famous artworks.  

It restores historic paintings, contemporary artworks, works on paper, furniture, ceramics and a variety of unusual and interesting objects. The company has grown to be a world leader and expert in restoring Banksy murals, from the safe removal and transportation of wall installations that the artworks are created on, to their careful conservation and restoration. It has also readied them to be displayed around the world, whether for an exhibition or in a public space. 
Famous and noteworthy artists whose artworks it has restored include a mix of modern and historic figures, such as Andy Warhol, Sir Godfrey Kneller, Peter Lely, and the studios of Van Dyck and Rubens. It has also restored artworks by a number of artists with close Cumbria connections, such as Sheila Fell, Percy Kelly and Edward Thompson. 
It receives artworks globally, from clients as far afield as America, Asia, and Australia. 
The company started as a small family business and now employs 30 people in a new purpose-built state-of-the-art conservation studio on the outskirts of Carlisle. High-profile clients include Durham Cathedral, Westminster Council, Mandarin Oriental, the US ambassador’s residence, Farnborough Abbey and Powderham Castle. 
It has also developed relationships with national and international insurance companies to become an approved supplier where restoration is required after incidents, such as fires and floods.