perfec - SMA Leeds Limited

Paul’s Sweet Revelation
Buying more than 20 personalised registrations over
two auctions and Paul Sweeting may be accused of
becoming addicted, but for him each and every one –
and several others previously bought over the years –
are investments for both private and business use.
Bidding on the likes of ERN 11T, GET 11T, MOV 11T,
TAP 11T, TRY 111T, ERN 111T, HAD 11T (you get to see
the pattern building up), during the sale at Down Hall last
year and Stratford Manor in February may have cost Paul
nearly £70,000, but he believes the money is better spent in
this manner than leaving it in the bank!
His collection of registrations is particularly poignant as he’s
made his living running one of Yorkshire’s most successful
removal and storage companies, The Shires Removal Group.
It was while in our Down Hall auction room in Hertfordshire
that he really got into his buying groove and recognised the
potential of plates that were not previously on his radar.
The 60-year-old explained: “I first bought a personalised
registration – N11 SEY – back in 1996. That was followed up
with N111 SEY and together they’ve made a great pairing and
while I’ve added to them over the years, it only dawned on me
recently the real tangible benefit they can bring to my
business.
“After scouring the auction catalogues I was drawn to the 11T
numbers and set about building up my portfolio.
All those bought for the business now sit proudly on my fleet
of vehicles.”
He’s generously treated various members of his family to
personalised registrations; his sense of humour drew him to
POT 11T, bought for his horticulturalist daughter!
That said, he has now added POT 111T to his portfolio and
together, he believes, they make a perfect - and hopefully
profitable – pairing… for a snooker ace.
And there, he has sowed the seeds for a retirement plan – as
he’s now wrestling with the notion of possibly moving into the
world of trading personalised registrations. Watch this space…
Paul Sweeting
DVLA Personalised Registrations I Issue 3
ERN 111T
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