Sunday Times Article - May 8th 2005

Picking out a MAG 1C number

Personalised plates were once an ego trip. Now they're a booming investment, write Roger Fulton and Emma Smith.

Some might sneer at those willing to spend thousands of pounds just to display on a car bumper their initials, the name of their football club or a weak joke (AR53 NAL, 5 EXY, FOX 3Y, VIP 1). But numberplates have become much more than an option for egocentrics

They’re big business. When the Driving (sic) and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) began selling numberplates in 1989 as a means of boosting Treasury coffers, it raised £4.5m in the first 12 months. In the last financial year that figure had jumped to £77.5m. The total amount raised to date is more than £95Om.

Auctions are held in stately homes, country house hotels, even castles, and attract thousands of bidders in person, via phone lines and the internet. The DVLA’s most lucrative sale remains K1 NGS, sold for £235,000 in 1993, but prices are rising all the time and values can double on the open market, where the most desirable plates regularly fetch more than £100,000.

VIP 1, issued in Ireland to mark a visit by the pope, sold in 2000 for £85,000 and recently went back on the market for £250,000. Once irredeemably naff, personalised or “cherished” plates are now popular with everyone from salesmen to royalty. The Queen owns the registration A 7 and the Princess Royal once owned 1 ANN before giving it up for security reasons.

For some parents, cherished plates bearing their newborn’s name or initials have become an alternative to a trust fund while for businesses they-are a prestige purchase. The rivalry between competing scrap merchants was so intense when SCR 4P under the hammer at the last DVLA auction that James Huntley, a dealer from Hampshire, was forced to bid £54,000, way a had intended to spend to secure it.

The Bentley family from East Sussex owns three personalised plates D8 NUT and D10 NUT for Nicola Bentley’s doughnut business and BRE 4D, bought by her father, a baker.

Personalised plates are a must for entertainers. Paul Daniels owns MAG 1C and comedian Jimmy Tarbuck, COM 1C. Harry Tate, a music hall star, was the first motorist to buy a personalised plate - T 8 - in the 1930s, after the government relaxed the rules on their sale. It is now owned by Johnny Tate of the Tate & Lyle sugar company.

“Values have been going steadily up in recent years so now would seem like a good time to invest.” Said Alistair Manning, a director of the Retail Motor Industry Federation and until recently head of the Cherished Numbers Dealers Association, a trade body set up in 1971 to represent dealers and protect customers. “It’s wise to get expert advice before investing and make sure you go to a reputable dealer.

When number plates were made compulsory in 1903 local authorities were given responsibility for issuing registrations and each was allocated a code. London, for example, was A, Lancashire B, Yorkshire C, and so on. Each alphabetical code was followed by number of up to four digits.

The first registration number issued by London was the now much sought after Al, originally owned by Earl Russell. As the number of registrations grew, more letters were added to indicate smaller areas within cities or postcode districts.

Certain potentially offensive or controversial letter combinations have never been used, including GOD, J1 HAD, JEW and SEX. The letter I was avoided because it was too easily confused with the number 1. The letter Q is for vehicles where the age cannot be determined.

For the real collectors the original issues with low numbers and few letters, and especially with a 1, or a string of one number, say 333 or 666, are the most sought after,” said Manson. “Those plates are an investment.” The number plate X 1 (X was the letter given Northumberland) was for sale online last week at Regtransfers.com for £500,000, while A 1 has an estimated value approaching £lm. The plate 1 A was the DVLA’s second most expensive, selling for £200,000 in 1989.

The number plate F 1 was put up for sale by Essex county council at the Bonhams auction at Goodwood House last month but failed to reach its undisclosed reserve price, thought to be more than £350,000. The less prestigious 1 F plate went under the hammer for £144,000, breaking its predicted sale price of £30,000-£40,000.

While the oldest plates remain the most desirable for investors, new number plates also have potential - the record for a new-style plate to date was set by AR53 NAL which sold for £45,000 in October last year. Investors are already thinking ahead to other potentially lucrative combinations.

DVLA prices start at a relatively modest £250 and the average hammer price is &£2,500. There are six auctions per year in a variety of settings. The next DVLA auction is at Sketchley Grange country house hotel in Hinckley, Leicestershire “We have the registrations BL05 SOM, FOX 3Y and EGO 1D coming up for sale, which should attract a lot of interest,” said Damian Lawson, marketing manager at the DVLA. Bidding will start at £700 for EGO 1D.