It is heartwarming to receive a message from a happy Salvo website user. Last week a spiral staircase sold in minutes after the SalvoWEB for sale advert was made live. The advert was an 'antique & reclaimed' for sale ad for a Victorian cast iron spiral staircase, no longer wanted due to the refurbishment of an 1890s barn building. Complete and intact, with the hand rail, central pole, uprights and fixing support bracket it just needed sand blasting and repainting. The seller was pleased to have sold the staircase so quickly that they emailed the Salvo team to let them know.
 
'Good to speak to you - and I'm writing immediately to confirm how happy I am with the Salvo website. After creating an account and advert, the staircase sold within a couple of minutes of the ad 'going live'. SalvoWEB is an excellent medium for trading this type of architectural salvage. Thanks very much again and best wishes. IJB.'

Interestingly the spiral staircase, as it turned out was bought to renovate another barn.
 

Business users can register to create a SalvoWEB user account and post 'antique & reclaimed' for sale adverts or demolition alerts for items still insitu. Private sellers can also create demolition alerts for reusable architectural salvage or reclaimed building materials due to be dismantled from their house or flat for a renovation project.
 
Business users pay a one off fee of £42 to register which includes an optional Salvo directory entry and advert credits to start them off. Many also choose to promote their architectural salvage business on the Salvo online marketplace with a range of other advertising options such as banners and buttons which link to their own websites, featured enhanced listings for individual items or batches of reclaimed materials, auction or event promotion, SalvoNEWS advertorials and adverts. Small dealers can also benefit from a link to SalvoWEB with their own SalvoSITE.
 
Architectural salvage dealers can also opt to join the Salvo Code, which is a simple voluntary code for dealers who buy and sell architectural antiques, antique garden ornament and reclaimed building materials. The Salvo Code aims to give customers greater confidence, in particular, that items which they buy have not been stolen or removed from protected historic buildings without permission. The Crane logo is used exclusively by Salvo Code businesses. The crane is an ancient symbol for vigilance which, legend has it, sleeps with one eye open and, stands on one foot and holds a stone in its other foot which, on falling asleep with both eyes closed, it drops and wakes up - possibly because it drops the stone onto its other foot!
 
Salvo itself was founded in Bath, UK in 1991 by Thornton Kay and Hazel Matravers who compiled and published the first Salvo directory. Thornton Kay had many years experience of working with architectural salvage gained when he ran Walcot Reclamation, a salvage business, based in Bath, with partner, Rick Knapp, as well as a building and joinery business.
 
Thornton and Hazel went on to expand Salvo with the creation of the Salvo Directories, Salvo information and dealer guides, SalvoNEWS, the SALVO magazine and Salvo Theft Alerts. Then Salvo UK online was started in 1994. Since then Salvo online marketplace has itself has grown to cover many more countries worldwide including Europe, Australia and Canada. Salvo U.S. online has also been set up to cover the USA.
 
Salvo's aim is to encourage and promote stockholding dealers in architectural salvage, garden antiques, reclaimed building materials and demolition salvage. Salvo also aims to increase appreciation and awareness of historical crafts skills and manufacture, and to help reduce the amount of salvageable materials from old buildings and gardens going to landfill. The UK architectural salvage trade enables salvage reuse which reduces UK carbon emissions by over 3m tonnes CO2 annually.
 
Salvo encourages fair trade and eco-friendly activities. Salvo puts dealers in touch with each other, and with private and professional buyers. Salvo puts private buyers and sellers in touch. Salvo supports the police and others in trying to prevent theft from buildings and gardens by circulating Salvo Theft Alerts.
 
Salvo provides information about architectural and garden antiques, reclaimed and recycled building materials, demolition salvage, craftspeople and other information relating to buildings, gardens, bygones, transport and machinery.
 
SalvoNEWS can be viewed online and the eSalvo monthly newsletter is emailed to over five thousand opt in subscribers including DIYers, renovators, designers, architects, antique and salvage dealers, auctioneers, fair organisers, builders, journalists, television production companies, craftspeople and upcyclers worldwide. View the Salvo online calendar with SalvoNEWS too for architectural salvage and antique auctions, fairs and events. These days Salvo is also on various social media channels including Instagram promoting reclamation and reuse including design ideas with architectural salvage and antiques. 
 
In the past Salvo has run an annual Salvo Fair and created architectural salvage zones at other fairs too. The first Fair was held in 1997 in Surrey and until 2014 it was the only architectural salvage fair in the world. The Salvo fair itself has been acknowledged by many as the best in its field for unique salvage, reclaimed building materials, decorative and garden antiques. Often featuring larger pieces of architectural salvage such as the Baltic Exchange and Westminster Bridge. For many years it was held at Knebworth House, Hertfordshire and then for three years at the private estate of Sir William and Lady McAlpine, Oxfordshire. The last fair, SALVO 2017 was a great success with over 90 exhibitors and excellent PR coverage from Sara Morel, who also showcased green fashion at the event. 

Update: In recent years, Team Salvo have offered reuse consultancy including promoting its carbon benefits, introduced the 'Truly Reclaimed' label and continued the goal to increase reuse with Salvo futuREuse.
 
For more information please contact [email protected]