Adrian “Adi” Higham built his public profile the old-fashioned way — decades of hands-on antiques trading — before television brought him to a wider audience through BBC One’s The Bidding Room. Between his long-running shop, Hoof Brocante, and his years on screen, curiosity about his net worth has grown steadily, even though, as with most working antique dealers, there’s no official figure confirming exactly what he’s worth.
Quick Facts About Adrian Higham
| Detail | Information |
| Known As | Adi Higham |
| Profession | Antiques dealer, television personality |
| Business | Owner, Hoof Brocante |
| Based In | Romney Marsh, on the East Sussex/Kent border |
| TV Show | The Bidding Room (BBC One), 2020 onward |
| Partner | Tara Franklin |
| Years in the Trade | Over 30 |
| Net Worth | No confirmed figure; estimates range widely from roughly £500,000 to £2.5 million |
Who Is Adrian Higham?
Adrian Higham is a British antiques dealer known to television audiences as one of the original expert dealers on The Bidding Room, the BBC One daytime show hosted by Nigel Havers. On the programme, dealers bid their own money against members of the public bringing in items for valuation and sale.
Off screen, Higham has spent more than three decades building a reputation in the antiques trade, with a particular specialism in French decorative pieces, mechanical curiosities, and objects with obvious wear and character rather than pristine, high-end collectibles.
How He Got Into Antiques Dealing
Higham’s entry into the trade came almost by accident. At 21, while working in signage, he bought a mountain bike at a local auction for around £10 and resold it for roughly nine to ten times that price. That first taste of a well-timed deal convinced him to pursue dealing more seriously, and he began by trading in old signs and furniture before broadening into the mechanical and industrial objects he’s now best known for — vintage bicycles, steam engines, toys, and anything with genuine age and character.
Hoof Brocante
Higham runs his business, Hoof Brocante, from a set of former hangars on an old RAF base in Romney Marsh, on the border between East Sussex and Kent. The shop specializes in French “brocante” — decorative, vintage, and secondhand goods — along with furniture, textiles, art, and interior design pieces, much of it sourced on regular trips across the English Channel to Normandy and other parts of France.
The business is closely tied to his partner, Tara Franklin, herself an antiques dealer specializing in vintage French textiles and linens, who also organizes the Penshurst Vintage and Antiques Fair. The two frequently collaborate on sourcing trips, fairs, and events.
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Life on The Bidding Room
Higham joined The Bidding Room as one of its original dealers when the show premiered on BBC One in 2020, after producers spotted him working at UK antiques fairs. Over the following years, he appeared in dozens of episodes, becoming known for his enthusiastic, larger-than-life personality and his eye for mechanical and industrial pieces that other dealers might overlook.
He has also appeared in other antiques-focused television projects, including a 2023 series centered on French farmhouse antiques, extending his television work beyond his original BBC role.
Personal Life
Adrian Higham shares both his personal and professional life with partner Tara Franklin; the two live between Rotherfield in East Sussex and a base near the French border they use for sourcing trips. Some reports have described Higham as having lost his first wife in the early 2000s, though this detail is not as consistently or reliably documented as his professional history, and should be treated with appropriate caution.
Recent Challenges
Higham’s public profile took a difficult turn following a reported dispute with a neighbour that led to a formal legal matter. Coverage of the situation has varied in its details and, as of this writing, the case appears to remain an active legal proceeding rather than a fully resolved one. Given the sensitivity and ongoing nature of legal matters like this, it’s worth treating specific claims about the case’s outcome with caution rather than presenting any one account as final.
What can be said is that the situation reportedly affected his visibility on The Bidding Room, and that he has continued running Hoof Brocante and maintaining his social media presence throughout.
Adrian Higham Net Worth
So what is Adrian Higham net worth? The honest answer is that there’s no official, confirmed figure. Estimates found online vary considerably — from around £500,000 on the more conservative end to as high as £2.5 million on others — reflecting how difficult it is to pin down the finances of a working antiques dealer whose wealth is tied up in inventory, property, and a business that doesn’t publish its accounts in detail.
His income is understood to come from a combination of sources: sales through Hoof Brocante, appearance fees from The Bidding Room and other television work, antiques fairs, and a growing social media following that supports both his personal brand and his shop’s visibility.
Why the Estimates Vary So Much
Adrian Higham’s case illustrates a common challenge with net worth figures for working tradespeople rather than salaried celebrities. Antique dealing involves constantly shifting inventory value, unpredictable sale timing, and business costs — transport, restoration, storage — that aren’t visible from the outside. A dealer might be sitting on valuable stock one month and thin margins the next, making any single net worth snapshot inherently approximate.
Combined with the lack of any official financial disclosure, this is why responsible reporting on his net worth should be treated as a reasonable estimate rather than a confirmed fact.
Final Thoughts
Adrian Higham’s financial story is less about a single impressive number and more about three decades of steady, hands-on trading, built up through fairs, cross-Channel sourcing trips, and a genuine passion for objects other dealers might pass over. His television work on The Bidding Room added visibility and likely boosted his business, but the core of his wealth remains tied to the antiques trade itself.
Given the nature of that trade, the most accurate way to describe his net worth is as a reasonable but unconfirmed estimate, somewhere in the low-to-mid six figures in pounds, built from decades of graft rather than any single windfall.
FAQs About Adrian Higham Net Worth
What is Adrian Higham net worth?
There is no official confirmed figure. Estimates online range from roughly £500,000 to £2.5 million, depending on the source.
How did Adrian Higham get into antiques dealing?
He started at 21 after buying a bike at auction for around £10 and reselling it for nine to ten times that amount, which led him into full-time dealing.
What is Hoof Brocante?
It’s Adrian Higham’s antiques business, based on an old RAF site in Romney Marsh on the East Sussex/Kent border, specializing in French decorative antiques and vintage goods.
Is Adrian Higham married?
He shares his personal and professional life with partner Tara Franklin, though reports differ on whether the couple are formally married.
How did Adrian Higham become known to TV audiences?
He joined BBC One’s The Bidding Room as one of its original expert dealers when the show launched in 2020.
Where does Adrian Higham source his antiques?
He regularly travels across the English Channel to Normandy and other parts of France to source French brocante and decorative pieces for Hoof Brocante.
Why is it hard to confirm Adrian Higham net worth?
As a working antiques dealer, his wealth is tied up in shifting inventory, business costs, and property rather than a fixed salary, and no official financial records have been published.
