February 1st 2012
Mystery businessman stuns all by buying DH11 LON Personalised Registration
A mystery businessman swooped on DVLA Personalised Registrations’ first auction of 2012 and stunned all by buying DH11 LON for nearly £80,000.

Expectations surrounding the personalised registration were high, especially as Dhillon is a popular Asian surname, but no one predicted the hammer would come down on such a huge sum during the first day of the Agency’s three-day sale staged at the Stratford Manor Hotel near Stratford-upon-Avon.

Tagged with a reserve of £2,000, this was immediately cast aside as the bidding war started at £12,600. A fierce battle between four rival bidders, all in the auction room, ensued and, just as the auctioneers’ gavel was about to fall at £50,000, the mystery man stepped in with, what proved to be, three significant bids.

The final winning bid was £61,000. However, the total amount paid was £79,100 because of the VAT on the hammer price, buyer’s premium, VAT on the buyer’s premium and assignment fee.


January 4th 2012
Registration Open for February 2012 Auction
The first auction of 2012 is now open, featuring 1,500 registrations with reserves from £250. The auction is being held at Stratford Manor Hotel, Stratford upon Avon from 1st - 3rd February. High value registrations such as 55 O and 12 OOO are included as well as some plates derived from the 11-series such as MA11 ORY, FE11 OWS, SA11 MON, CH11 PPY and YE11 OUT. Please download your free PDF catalogue by clicking here.


December 5th 2011
DVLA's Gavel Raises £16 Million in 2011
DVLA Personalised Registrations' final three-day auction of 2011 raised more than £2.8 million, taking the total amount generated from auction sales this year to a staggering £16 million.

The registration 14 O was the sale's biggest seller, bought by an Essex-based businessman who wanted to remain anonymous for a total of £40,256.


November 28th 2011
New Search Function Available on Website
SMA has introduced a new search engine on its website allowing customers to find registrations in the next auction matching their initials.

Click here to try it out.


November 7th 2011
Interest Builds in Dormy House Auction
Following from last week's great Online Timed Auction success, bidders have been rushing to register for the next Physical auction being held at the end of the month at Dormy House Hotel in Broadway, Worcestershire.


November 3rd 2011
DVLA Online Timed Auction closed
DVLA's latest Online Timed Auction closed yesterday with a record number of bidders. The registration 'SAJ 78G' fetched £3810 with a total of eleven people bidding on it. The whole sale made over £500,000 in total, which is the best result since March 2010.


October 19th 2011
DVLA Online Timed Auction now open
The DVLA Online Timed Auction starts 10am on Wednesday 19th October and will run until Wednesday the 2nd of November. There are 1,250 registrations with reserves from £130 to £1,500. To view the auction in progress please go to the Online Timed Auction section of our website, where you are able to have a look without registering.

However if you would like to bid you will need to sign up and go through a short registration process.


October 3rd 2011
Autumn Gold For DVLA Personalised Registrations
DVLA recorded its most successful sale of 2011, generating £3.2 million during the three days at Down Hall Country House Hotel. 92% of the 1500 registrations were sold. DE11 BOY was the highest seller, fetching £27,200 at hammer price.

The next auction is to be held at Dormy House Hotel in Worcestershire from 30th November until 2nd December.


September 26th 2011
Record Beaten Again For Bidders
Once again, a record number of people have registered to bid at the DVLA Auction being held this week at Down Hall Country House Hotel near Bishop's Stortford.

Most interest is being shown in the headline registration DE11 BOY.


August 16th 2011
DVLA Renews Auction Contract for SMA Vehicle Remarketing
SMA is delighted to announce that it has had its contract renewed to remain the official auctioneer for DVLA’s personalised registration numbers. The contract is for three years until 2014. The contract is for SMA to provide both physical and online auctions for DVLA.

DVLA announced its decision today following a lengthy competitive tender process.

The next auction is at Down Hall Country House Hotel in Hertfordshire from 28th – 30th September.


July 26th 2011
Record Number of Bidders Register for Williams F1
With the DVLA Auction due to start tomorrow, a record number of people have registered to bid at the Williams F1 Conference Centre auction. A large number of people are expected to bid in person and take advantage of the unique opportunity of viewing the Williams Collection of racing cars.


July 20th 2011
DVLA Online Timed Auction closed.
The DVLA Online Timed Auction ended on the 6th of July with a good result. We are looking forward to a great auction at the end of this month at the Williams F1 conference Centre in Oxfordshire.


June 16th 2011
DVLA Online Timed Auction now open
The DVLA Online Timed Auction starts 10am on Wednesday 15th June and will run until Wednesday the 6th of July. There are 1,150 registrations with reserves from £130 to £1700. To view the auction in progress please go to the online auction section of our website, where you are able to have a look without registering.

However if you would like to bid you will need to sign up and go through a short registration process.


May 31st 2011
Heritage Motor Centre Auction Results
The DVLA Auction started at 9:30 am on Thursday 26th May with the 3 days finishing on the Saturday for a change. Some memorable results are listed below:

UTD 80Y went for £10,000 under the hammer. That's a total of £12,980. Rumour was that it had been bought by a Manchester United player but the mystery was solved when the buyer was revealed as Paul Quinn from Eccles, Manchester, who would have gone to £40,000 too!

MCL 12C was also a bit of a surprise. But bearing in mind a McLaren MP4 12C retails for £170,000 it’s perhaps a bargain at the hammer price of £18,500. That's a grand total of £23,945.

WA11 ACE reached £26,000 under the hammer, one of the more tense sales with 2 bidders in the room desperate to buy. Our next sale is at the Williams F1 Conference Centre in Oxfordshire starting 27th July.

We will also have an Online Timed Auction in June more details to follow.


April 21st 2011
Bidders Rush to Register for Heritage Motor Centre
Following the last auction at the end of March we have had a very busy few weeks leading up to the forthcoming DVLA Auction which will take place at The Heritage Motor Museum on 26th – 28th May.

Unprecedented numbers of potential purchasers are registering to bid at www.dvlaauction.co.uk. The most popular registration appears to be WA11 ACE. We look forward to seeing you there.


March 29th 2011
Rudding Park Auction Now Closed
The Rudding Park Auction has now finished. Thanks to all who bid and bought numbers. We look forward to seeing you at the next auction. The next DVLA Auction is on 26th-28th May at The Heritage Motor Museum. Download your free catalogue now by clicking this link.


March 10th 2011
DVLA Online Timed Auction Closed
The DVLA Online Timed Auction ended at 8:15pm last night with registration 'V845 TON' fetching over £7k and the whole sale making over £330k. You can now register online for the DVLA Auction in Harrogate which will take place on the 22nd, 23rd and 24th of March at https://register.dvlaauction.co.uk/


February 16th 2011
Imperial War Museum Results and Online Auction
A great auction was held last week at The Imperial War Museum in Manchester. The most expensive plate was sold for £49,000 which was '12 O'. You can now bid on 1,000 personalised registrations in the DVLA Online Timed Auction with reserves from £130.


January 7th 2011
Imperial War Museum Auction
Join us at the next DVLA Personalised Registration auction at the Imperial War Museum (North) on the 2nd, 3rd and 4th of February.


15th November 2010
Ardencote Manor Auction
Join us at the next Personalised Registration auction at Ardencote Manor in Warwickshire on the 1st, 2nd and 3rd of December.


27th October 2010
Online Auction Starts
The DVLA Online Auction starts 27th October 2010 at 10am.


10th June 2010
Fan wins the ultimate accessory
Vespa fans may be used to adorning their two-wheeled wonders with accessories but only one devotee can show-off what can only be described as the ultimate add-on.

For Neil Little won the fitting personalised plate VE55 SPA during DVLA Personalised Registrations' first of two summer auctions.

Thanks to his winning bid totalling £1,185, Neil will soon be sporting his private plate on his new, limited edition, Vespa LXV.

The 40-year-old carpenter from Meopham, Kent, said:"I have private plates on all my vehicles but I believe this one will really stand out from the crowd - it's the ultimate registration for my scooter!"

"I don't usually spend the amount I did on the VE55 SPA plate but, as soon as I saw it was going under the hammer knew I just had to have it."


26th March 2010
First class mail, guaranteed!
One lucky postman will be delivered the perfect package this Spring - all courtesy of DVLA Personalised Registrations.

The number plate POS 78OX - the ideal registration for any postal worker - went under the hammer for just £500 in the first DVLA Personalised Registrations auction to be held at Old Trafford, the iconic home of Manchester United.


26th March 2010
Liverpool fan gets a shock
Liverpool fan Christopher Almond shows it's not all about supporting your team when it comes to choosing number plates.

The registration EVE 370N - the perfect plate for any Toffee's fan - was snapped up by Mr Almond as an investment after it came under the hammer at Old Trafford for just £1,100.

"I initially came to the auction for another plate," said Mr Almond. "I missed out on that, but when I saw EVE 370N going for less than I expected, as a Liverpool fan I couldn't resist going for it. Either way, it's a great investment."

More than 1,500 plates are going under the auctioneers gavel at the first DVLA Personalised Registrations auction to be held at Old Trafford, the home of Manchester United.


4th December 2009
24-year-old buys 6 O for £100,216
A 24-year-old bought the registration 6 O for a staggering £100,216 during the final day of DVLA Personalised Registrations' Christmas auction staged at Tankersley Manor Hotel, near Barnsley.

DVLA Personalised Registrations released the O-series as part of its 20th anniversary celebrations. Each of its six auctions of the year - commencing with 1 O in January 2009 - has featured them. In total, 1 O, 2 O, 3 O, 4 O, 5 O and now 6 O have amassed a colossal £666,560 with all the money raised going to the Treasury.


8th May 2009
Investors Turn to Registrations
With interest rates at an all time low, investors are looking around for potentially better returns than leaving their money on deposit. Over the last few months, a number of new bidders have appeared at DVLA Auctions taking advantage of the competitive prices.


3rd April 2009
DVLA Sets its Sights on Big 3 O
The most recent auction at Ardencote Manor, Warwickshire, saw the 2 O registration - the second instalment of the agency's single digit O-series sell off of 2009 - fall under the hammer for £142,249. 1 O was sold in January for £210,242 while 3 O will "star" at Wychwood Park near Crewe, Cheshire, in June.


27th March 2009
1 D Sets New Auction Record
The registration 1 D sold for a record-breaking £285,000 hammer price at DVLA's last auction in March 2009. This beat the previous record of £201,000 for 51 NGH set in April 2006.