Salvage Hunters, Drew Pritchard– Biography
Drew Pritchard is well-renowned as one of the UK’s top decorative antiques dealers. Building on a childhood love of visiting car scrapyards to unearth rare and beautiful items, Drew has turned his lifelong passion into a thriving international business enterprise. Over 20 years Drew and his specialist team of experts have restored an incredibly diverse range of items, from fireplaces, doors, lighting and garden ornaments, cars, paintings, furniture and lighting. Stand-out discoveries include an extremely rare set of 14 19thCentury William Morris stained glass windows, found in the cellar of a demolition contractor after his death, which Drew painstakingly restored and sold for over £100,000.
Drew’s passion for beautifully-made furniture and collectibles reached a wider audience in 2011 whenSalvage Hunterslaunched on Quest and quickly became the channel’s biggest hit. The programme follows Drew as he criss-crosses the country to search for derelict gems that can be given a new lease of life back at his antiques yard with the help of wife Rebecca, sidekick Tee and his team of renovators, wood carvers, upholsterers and guilders. The show reached 11.2m people in the UK last year and is currently broadcast in nearly 30 countries.
Drew’s passion for rare finds started early. At 11 he was saving old bicycles and pieces of boat he found on the beach, before starting his own vintage car collection aged of 15. At 16, Drew embarked upon an apprenticeship that would see him become a trained stained glass conservator and work for a number of years, travelling the country to visit the varied castles and cathedrals of England. He went on to establish his own architectural antiques business aged just 23.
Based in Glan Conwy in North Wales, on an 8.5 acre site close to the beautiful Snowdonia National Park, Drew has a diverse client list – having sold items to royalty and celebrities alike (including Hollywood actor Jim Carrey and Ringo Starr’s musician son, Zac Starkey); and fitted shops, like Ralph Lauren in America and Monaco, and Rive Gauche in Paris; restaurants, including Marco Pierre White and Jamie Oliver, and London hotspot Soho House. Described as “original, masculine and beautifully-made”, Drew’s salvaged furniture and items have been sold around the world. Drew lives in a regency chapel he converted himself over the last 18 years in beautiful north Wales which acts as a showcase of the best items he has found over the years.
2015 sees not only the return ofSalvage Hunterson Quest, but Drew’s new range at luxury London’s store, Liberty, showcasing a range of captivating pieces including furniture from the 19th and early 20th century.