Adrian Higham, commonly known as Adi Higham, is a British antiques dealer and television personality best known for appearing on BBC One’s The Bidding Room. He built his reputation through decades of buying and selling vintage items before becoming a familiar television face. Interest in Adrian Higham net worth, age, career, partner, and lifestyle has grown alongside his television popularity.
Adrian Higham | Profile Summary
| Profile Detail | Information |
|---|---|
| Full Name | Adrian “Adi” Higham |
| Birth Date | September 1967 |
| Age | 59 years old in 2026 |
| Birthplace | England, United Kingdom |
| Nationality | British |
| Profession | Antiques Dealer, Television Personality |
| Height | Not reliably confirmed publicly |
| Partner | Tara Franklin |
| Business | Hoof Brocante |
| Known For | The Bidding Room |
| Net Worth | Estimated £500,000–£1.5 million |
| @hoof.antiques_brocante |
Who Is Adrian Higham?
Adrian Higham is an experienced antiques dealer with a strong interest in French brocante, mechanical toys, vintage signs, furniture, and unusual decorative pieces. His friendly personality and willingness to buy objects that genuinely interest him helped him stand out on television. Long before his BBC appearances, however, antiques dealing had already been his main profession for many years.
Adrian Higham Net Worth
Adrian Higham net worth is commonly estimated between £500,000 and £1.5 million, although no official figure has been publicly confirmed. His finances remain private, meaning online estimates should be treated cautiously. His wealth is generally linked to decades of antiques dealing, his Hoof Brocante business, television appearances, vintage fairs, and buying and reselling valuable collectibles.
Age and Birth Details
Official business records list Adrian Higham as being born in September 1967, making him 59 years old in September 2026. Some biography websites instead report September 1969, creating confusion around his exact birth year. Because Companies House provides an official corporate record, September 1967 is the stronger publicly available date when discussing his current age.
Early Life
Only limited verified information is publicly available about Higham’s childhood, parents, siblings, and education. Most public coverage focuses on his professional life rather than his early years. What is clear is that he developed an interest in buying and selling unusual items while still young, eventually turning his natural curiosity for vintage objects into a full-time career.
Career Beginnings
Higham’s antiques journey reportedly began when he bought a mountain bike for around £10 at a local village auction and later sold it for approximately £90. The successful sale encouraged him to attend more auctions and experiment with different items. He entered the antiques trade at about 21 and gradually developed his own distinctive buying style.
Antiques Career
During his early career, Higham worked with traditional furniture, restored signs, and decorative pieces. Over time, he became increasingly interested in unusual objects with personality and history. His specialist interests expanded to include mechanical toys, vintage advertising, French furniture, industrial objects, old vehicles, teddy bears, and architectural pieces, helping him build a recognizable reputation among collectors.
Hoof Brocante
A major part of Higham’s professional life is Hoof Brocante, an antiques business associated with him and his partner, Tara Franklin. The business has become known for French decorative antiques, vintage textiles, furniture, toys, mirrors, signs, and unusual interior pieces. Higham and Franklin combine different areas of knowledge when selecting stock for collectors and interior buyers.
French Antiques
France has played an important role in Higham’s career. He regularly travelled there to find vintage furniture, textiles, decorative objects, architectural pieces, and other brocante items. Buying directly from French markets gave his business access to stock that was less common in Britain. These sourcing trips became both a professional activity and a recognizable part of his lifestyle.
The Bidding Room
Higham gained wider recognition after joining The Bidding Room on BBC One. The programme features members of the public presenting unusual objects while professional dealers compete to purchase them. Higham became popular for his enthusiastic reactions, friendly manner, and willingness to bid strongly for items he personally loved, particularly vintage toys and mechanical objects.
He is credited with appearing in around 40 episodes between 2020 and 2025. Television introduced Higham to an audience far larger than the traditional antiques community. His appearances also gave viewers an insight into how professional dealers judge condition, rarity, personal appeal, resale opportunities, and the stories behind unusual vintage objects.
Other Television Work
Higham also appeared on The Vintage French Farmhouse in 2023. The programme followed antiques dealers travelling through France to source interesting objects that could later be sold for profit. His involvement suited his professional background because sourcing French antiques had already been an important part of his business long before the programme was produced.
Income Sources
Antiques dealing appears to be Higham’s main source of income. Professional dealers make money by finding undervalued objects and selling them at a higher price, although costs such as restoration, transport, storage, fairs, and business expenses must also be considered. Hoof Brocante has helped provide a regular commercial base for his buying and selling activities.
Television work likely provided an additional income stream during his appearances, although his exact BBC salary has never been publicly disclosed. Antique fairs, private customers, collectible sales, overseas sourcing, and public exposure may also contribute to his earnings. These activities together help explain estimates surrounding Adrian Higham net worth, even though his finances remain private.
Partner and Family
Higham’s long-term partner is Tara Franklin, who also works in the antiques industry. She has particular knowledge of vintage French textiles and linens, while Adrian is strongly associated with toys, furniture, signs, mechanical objects, and unusual decorative finds. Their shared interest in antiques has allowed them to work together professionally through Hoof Brocante.
Higham has kept much of his wider family life away from public attention. Details about his parents and siblings are not widely documented by reliable sources. Some online reports discuss previous relationships and children, but these personal details are less consistently supported than information about his antiques career and partnership with Tara Franklin.
Lifestyle
Higham’s lifestyle appears closely connected with his profession rather than conventional celebrity luxury. He spends considerable time around antique markets, vintage fairs, restoration projects, French sourcing trips, classic objects, and vehicles. His public image suggests that collecting is more than simply a business and remains one of his biggest personal interests.
His enthusiasm for unusual vehicles and mechanical objects is particularly noticeable. One of the more distinctive items associated with his collecting interests was a 1969 Peugeot French fire engine. Objects like this reflect his preference for pieces with character, history, engineering interest, and visual appeal rather than focusing only on expensive traditional antiques.
Height and Appearance
There is no reliable official source confirming Adrian Higham’s exact height. Various biography websites publish different measurements, making it difficult to provide a trustworthy number. Visually, Higham is recognized for his broad build, short dark hair, expressive personality, casual clothing style, and friendly appearance, which became familiar to viewers through his television work.
Social Media
Higham maintains a connection with collectors and television viewers through social media. One of the main accounts associated with his antiques work is @hoof.antiques_brocante on Instagram. The platform has featured vintage finds, buying trips, business updates, restoration projects, and behind-the-scenes glimpses of life in the antiques industry.
Life After The Bidding Room
Higham’s credited appearances on The Bidding Room ended in 2025. His departure attracted media coverage following a long-running dispute involving neighbours. Higham publicly discussed how negative publicity affected his television career. Later reports stated that an interim legal order connected with the dispute was withdrawn and that criminal charges were not ultimately brought.
Despite changes to his television career, his professional identity remains closely connected to antiques. Years before television, Higham had already established himself as a dealer, meaning his work did not depend entirely on BBC exposure. His experience buying, restoring, sourcing, and selling vintage pieces remains the strongest foundation of his career.
Interesting Facts
Higham’s entire antiques career can be traced back to the simple £10 bicycle purchase that he successfully resold for much more. He later became particularly known for loving teddy bears, mechanical toys, old signs, French brocante, unusual vehicles, and objects with strong stories. His personal taste often influences what he buys as much as potential resale profit.
Final Thoughts
Adrian Higham net worth is often estimated between £500,000 and £1.5 million, but there is no verified public statement confirming his personal wealth. What can be clearly documented is his long career in antiques, work with Hoof Brocante, French sourcing experience, and appearances on The Bidding Room and The Vintage French Farmhouse.
His story is different from that of someone who became wealthy simply through television fame. Higham spent decades developing knowledge of antiques before appearing on screen. His career shows how specialist experience, personal taste, business knowledge, and enthusiasm for unusual objects helped transform a small auction purchase into a long-term professional life.
FAQs
What is Adrian Higham’s net worth?
Adrian Higham’s net worth is commonly estimated between £500,000 and £1.5 million. However, he has never publicly confirmed his personal wealth, so these figures should be treated as estimates.
How old is Adrian Higham?
Official business records list Adrian Higham’s birth month and year as September 1967. This means he is 59 years old in September 2026.
Who is Adrian Higham’s partner?
Adrian Higham’s long-term partner is Tara Franklin. She is also involved in the antiques trade and has worked alongside Adrian through their Hoof Brocante business.
What is Adrian Higham famous for?
Adrian Higham is best known as an antiques dealer and for appearing on BBC One’s The Bidding Room. He also appeared in The Vintage French Farmhouse in 2023.
How tall is Adrian Higham?
Adrian Higham’s exact height has not been reliably confirmed by an official or dependable source. Different biography websites provide conflicting measurements, so an exact figure would be speculative.
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