Auction rooms destroyed by fire to reopen in former South Shields social club, creating 20+ jobs

Jarrow Auction Rooms was trading from the former Methodist church on Bede Burn Road when a fire engulfed the building in November 2017.

Owner Brian Cairns is finally opening new premises at the former Perseverance Social Club in Tyne Dock, South Shields. The move between towns means that the business has changed name to South Shields Auction Rooms.

The company has almost 16,000 Facebook followers and wants them to know that the name change will not affect continuity.

Brian has already been running The Tuppence Trader, a business selling wooden whisky barrels, from the building which sits on the corner of Hudson Street and Whitehead Street, opposite Crown Bingo.

But after extensive renovations other businesses will be using the building, besides the auctioneers and the barrel firm. The first auction there is expected to take place in March, with further details to be announced.

Since the fire, Brian has always maintained that there would be another auction company.

He said: “We bought the property and we’re currently in the process of developing it. We’re going to get one of the auctions underway soon. It’s taken about a year and a half and has cost about £160,000 to date to renovate.

“Apart from the auction room, there’ll be 28 storage rooms that people can have access to 24/7, the shop selling whisky barrels and a one-bedroom flat. We’ll also have 100 PO boxes for businesses to use. Eventually there should be 20-25 people working here.”

The Perseverance Club, often called The Persey, closed down in September 2020.

Meanwhile there is an ongoing wrangle over the future of the auction house’s former premises. The 1895 former church in Jarrow has been a burned out shell since the fire there over four years ago.

Its current owners, Premier Leisure Ltd, have applied to South Tyneside Council to demolish it and replace it with a five-apartment building with ground-floor parking. Premier say there is no viable alternative.

The building is not listed. However, it is one of the council’s ‘Locally Significant Heritage Assets’ and campaigners say the structure is sound and could be restored and reused.

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