Salvage Hunters dealer Drew Pritchard's lucky finds during film shoot at Chesterfield business

The respected antique dealer haggled with Suzie Kujawinski and Wayne Cutts of The Lucky Magpie Salvage to secure a piece of 19th century advertising rescued by the partners from a barn and which Drew called “the nicest enamel sign I’ve seen.”

The brightly coloured artwork bearing the words “There’s no tea like Phillips’s” caught Drew’s eye but he let out a low whistle when Suzie said it had an £1,800 price tag.

Drew countered with £1,000 and Wayne said the best they could do was £1,350 which Drew accepted. Drew, who made £100 profit on the estimated value of the sign, said: “£1,350 is the most I've ever paid for an enamel sign so it must be something special. It's a stonker.”

Wayne said on the programme: "I'm just so glad that he picked an enamel sign. For him to pick that piece out makes it all worthwhile, all the early mornings and all the hundreds and hundreds of miles to get these finds for our customers. There are three or four days every month where we just set off in the van, we don’t book any hotels and we see where we end up. We'll get leads during the day and then we get a van full of stuff.”

Suzie said that The Lucky Magpie Salvage was an eclectic mix of finds: “something that feels like a Willy Wonka antiques centre where you can come in and get immersed in all the different rooms.”

Drew commented: "I like it. It's a bright colourful place rammed full of stuff, a lot of signage, fairground showmen art, there's display cases, all sorts. Make it fun, make it affordable and you’ll do well, and that’s exactly what I think they're doing here.”

Drew’s haul from the Hollis Lane business included sought-after 19th century terracotta corbels showing traces of original paintwork which had been made by Armitage and Sons, Manchester and Sheffield. Wayne explained that the corbels were bought from a woman whose husband had saved the corbels from a tip in Buxton where he worked. Suzie sold the pair to Drew for £140, the estimated value was £250.

The television presenter’s interest was also piqued by a shield bearing a stag’s head which had come from a house clearance and which Drew described as an oddball. “It's clearly something somebody's made themselves,” he said, “they've made up the mould because they wanted to have an armorial shield on the front of their house.” Drew bought the shield for £100, half its estimated price.

Drew said: “The Lucky Magpie for me has been very lucky.”

He rounded off his visit to the Aladdin’s cave of curios in Chesterfield by buying a selection of plant pots for £350.

The episode of Salvage Hunters was aired on the Quest channel last night (Wednesday, September 27).