Whether you are a professional dealer or an amateur enthusiast, and whatever your budget, Drew's on a mission to show you how to enrich your life with beautiful things, that have their own unique story and that bring you joy. And then how to part with them for cash! He hit the big time with Salvage Hunters which is shown on Quest and is watched by millions of people across the globe. Mr Pritchard had owned premises outside Glan Conwy for more than 20 years. And the skill in recognising those things is, he says, down to having good taste and a good eye. The former, he says you can’t teach, the latter can be honed with practice.

If like me you were the kid who preferred skips to school and learnt more from lost relics in sheds than lessons – you might be interested in my first book..... "Man With A Van". The Edwardian to the late 1940s was not a great period for the majority of furniture and that is what was became known as brown furniture, but, what happened was that everything that was old and brown was tarred with the same brush including 18 th and 19 th century English furniture – finest on the planet that has ever been. They would return with oars, bicycles and car badges, which they'd sell by the side of a road. The resulting cash would be spent on sweets and magazines.That same year, Drew opened an antiques emporium on Conwy’s High Street. It was an immediate hit, cementing the historic town’s position as a destination for independent stores. The new shop also brought full circle a long-cherished dream. Finding and selling antiques is in his blood, and he can’t imagine ever stopping. He only wishes he knew as a young man what he knows now. For this reason, in May he published a book, “How Not to Be an Antiques Dealer: Everything I’ve Learnt, That Nobody Told Me”.

He opened up about his childhood and how he found his passion for antiques. He said he and his friends would go and look in sheds in his home village in Glan Conwy, Wales. Drew Pritchard is showing me around his antique dealer’s office on Zoom. “Brace yourself,” he says, flashing the camera over his shoulder to reveal the blanket-strewn boot of his Volvo estate. I like Drew and I enjoy his programmes, I think he is very knowledgeable and has a brilliant eye for quality – which is just as well, otherwise I might be thinking he is a bit of an arrogant ****** after reading this. In some respects, the move simply reflects his old mantra about antiques dealing – that items are worth nothing if left unsold in storerooms. Better to move on, get the deal done, and progress to the next item.There's a lot in there you may have heard and a lot you won't have... some wrongs righted and some myths dispelled... Thanks for reading... and here's to the next one... NOW that's really something I want to share... At every car boot sale and junk shop, salvage yard or antique fair there is one gem; one thing that is remarkable that isn’t where it should be. It might have been lost in the hands of someone who didn’t understand it and it the right hands it is amazing but it isn’t junk.” The TV star went to an open viewing and made an offer on the spot last year, which was instantly accepted. He has now been putting a lot of blood, sweat and tears into revamping the property from five separate flats into its former townhouse glory, although he will be holding onto his cottage in Conwy.

Over the years I've had some incredible finds, but the one that excites me the most is the next one.' Craig, who has been in business since the 1980s, said this came at a time filming was ending for Salvage Hunters. He has apparently been told he was "too good" at his job, although he will be missed by many fans of the two shows. The emporium helped cement Conwy's position as a top destination for shoppers wanting independent stores and attracted visitors from around the UK and further afield. They’re just dreadful. I’ve got great friends who are on them, but they’re auctioneers, not dealers. It’s like saying a painter and decorator is a builder. They both work on houses, but they do different things.”One is a property developer who buys incredible houses, fills them with antiques and then sells them as is. “She does it all around the world. It’s astonishing.” So what are his tips for buying old? Firstly, if you buy an old light he suggests taking it to the “bloke on the high street who fixes your microwave and your telly. Electrics is three wires, there’s no mystery. Clean it up, take it to him and he will fix it for you.” He is, I am beginning to learn, characteristically, dismissive of those who aren’t experts in his field. When I ask about the fashion for brown furniture it is some minutes before he draws breath. You’ve taken something that was worthless and made it worth even less. It’s an embarrassment to this country that we do this. Along with pebbledashing.

Craig has also been dropped from the hit shows by the production company - although remains on good terms with Drew. Apparently he's "too good" for TV, with him making light work of the challenges posed to the team. Too many would-be dealers today, he finds, look up the value of an item and think that’s what they should be asking for it. Not realising that there is a chain of dealers through which an item’s value will rise, each making a modest 20 per cent profit, until it reaches the London showroom which has the expensive clientele but also the costly overheads. Everyone sees everyone trying to get a bargain on the telly but don’t do that because the next time they won’t be there for you to try and get a cheap price off. Give them their money you will still be getting something of value. A star on hit shows Salvage Hunters and Salvage Hunters: The Restorers says he is being forced to consider his future as costs spiral. Expert upholsterer Craig Hughes, from Colwyn Bay, has been a regular alongside Conwy antiques dealer Drew Pritchard on Salvage Hunters and a presenter on the spin off show. When I see something old, that I think is beautiful, special, valuable, it's not about the money. It's about being in another time and place.'The only person getting anything from this is the person who sells you the paint and if it makes you happy then FINE – but as I said stone cladding was in for a while wasn’t it?” The move comes just over a year after his Conwy store closed. He had opened the antiques emporium on the High Street in 2017. And yet, when Pritchard started out, antiques was a closed shop. “It was like the Mafia.” It’s not quite the same today, but with his advice he hopes he can get anyone through the door and give them a start. “The rest is down to what you make of it. That’s what I love about it.” He posted on social media: "Apparently nothing is a challenge for me and I always manage jobs without a problem where as if you are not that good it makes for better TV."