109 DAVE ALLEN - Art courier
BEAUTIFUL DRAWINGS OF DARTMOUTH ARE ZOOMING THROUGH THE COUNTRYSIDE, LOITER- ING ON THE M25 AND POPPING UP ON THE BUSY STREETS OF LONDON! Dave Allen is a specialised art courier transporting paintings and sculptures around Britain. This year he asked Paul Barclay to cover his vans in images of Dartmouth and they’re getting plenty of attention everywhere he goes. Dave Allen lives in Preston. For many years he was a senior logistics manager working for delivery compa- nies like TNT and FedEx. But 11 years ago he gave it up and moved down to Devon. His wife set up a pine furniture business in Totnes and they used a van to delivery their goods to custom- ers. Dave then saw a gap in the market and decided to create a new company called South Hams Express Ltd transporting pictures, artwork, sculptures and antiques around the country. “My first delivery was for Dart Gallery in Dartmouth. Over the years we’ve expanded and now have three vans and work with auction houses, art dealers, restor- ers, exhibitors and galleries - literally anyone to do with the art world.” When Dave first set up he did some work for Paul Barclay. Dave was impressed with his style so earlier this year he asked him to design images of the town to wrap around two of his vans. Paul was only too pleased to oblige and soon got to work on drawings of the Naval College, castle and lower ferry. Dave loves the attention: “People take pictures and ask me about Dartmouth. It’s a beautiful place that’s close to my heart and the more people that go there the better.
“Mr Warburton (of Warburton’s bread) bought a picture in a Totnes gallery and needed it
delivered to his house in North Devon, I also took some art work to chef James Martin in Hamp- shire.”
Not only does it help the town but they could spend money in the galleries then will require my services - it all makes business sense! Paul has had phonecalls from people he knows in London who say they’ve just seen his artwork passing by their window!” The service Dave offers is very much in demand, his fleet is out nearly everyday travelling mainly around the South of England. “All three vans go up to London a couple of days a week, each driver doing about 15 drops to dealers, museums and galleries. In the old days I went to London once a fortnight and did about six drops. I would sleep in the van and eat fish and chips!” Quite a bit of his work is delivering big items which people have bought whilst visiting Devon, then they need them transporting back to their London pad. He says he’s had ev- erything in the back of his van from sculptures to Chinese porcelain: “We often work at the Mall Galleries and the Royal Academy in central Lon- don. They hold regular exhibitions and the artists book us to deliver
their work, and then pick up anything that hasn’t been sold.” Dave says he’s had a couple of high profile clients over the years. “Mr Warburton (of Warburton’s bread) bought a picture in a Totnes gallery and needed it delivered to his house in North Devon, I also took some art work to chef James Martin in Hampshire, you never see the actual people – just their PAs! I’ve had a couple of drops to Chatsworth House as the Lord likes a partic- ular South West artist. There are often tourists watching as I’m waved through the main gates and you can see they’re wondering if I’m important!”•
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