Hugh is a British international fine art, classic car and charity auctioneer. In a 35-year career as a Christie’s auctioneer, he conducted more than 2,500 auctions, selling over 310,000 lots for a sum in excess of £2.7 billion.
Hugh has sold a wide range of items including Old Master, Impressionist & Contemporary paintings, fine furniture, Chinese ceramics & works of art, and film & sporting memorabilia. Whilst at Christie’s, Hugh auctioned works from a number of historic collections, including those of H.R.H. the late Princess Margaret and the late Elizabeth Taylor. In 2004, Hugh conducted the auction of 88 guitars belonging to Eric Clapton raising a total of $7,438,624. Other interesting and unusual highlights have included Audrey Hepburn’s 'little black dress' from Breakfast at Tiffany's which sold in December 2006 for £467,000 and Daniel Craig’s Aston Martin DB10 from James Bond’s Spectre for £2,434,500 in February 2016.
Alongside his fine art selling, Hugh is a much sought-after auctioneer for national and international charity fundraisers and has conducted over 885 sales helping to raise over £100 million for numerous charitable causes. His charity work has taken him around the world to over 30 cities including Dubai, Hong Kong, Casablanca, New York, Mumbai, Monte Carlo, Los Angeles, and Tokyo. In 2005, he was chosen to conduct the BBC's televised celebrity auction in aid of Children in Need and in 2008 he was the auctioneer at Nelson Mandela’s 90th Birthday Gala in London, selling the eight lots for a total of £4.3 million.
Whilst Chairman of Christie's South Kensington, Hugh was appointed Christie’s International Director of Auctioneering, a global role, which not only involved taking sales but also being responsible for the on-going appraising of the seventy existing auctioneers and the identifying and training of new ones.
In 2016, he stepped back from his full-time role at Christie's, to become a freelance auctioneer. This has given Hugh the opportunity to conduct more charity auctions and to share his knowledge and experience with other auction houses, implementing his training programme for both experienced and new auctioneers.
In December 2018, Hugh was appointed by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) as the auctioneer for the 2019 Indian Premier League (IPL), and has continued to conduct this annual prestigious auction to date.
