I often tell people how busy I am but that I love it because I don’t know what else I’d do.  I don’t really have any hobbies.  I enjoy watching football and I’m happy to have a good meal and a nice glass of wine, but I can’t really describe them as hobbies.

 

Hobbies are things I don’t really understand.  Especially hobbies that involve collecting things.  I have a great collection of killer heels and some wonderful jewellery, but these are all functional practical things that I use on a regular basis.  Collecting things for the sake of collecting things seems strange.

 

Which made it all the more odd that I recently found myself at a stamp auction.  After asking questions of the people I was with, this is what I learned.  Once a month, the auction house holds a stamp auction.  The shelves are full mostly of boxes and boxes of albums that people have collected over a period of time.  They then die, get bored of the hobby or need money.  So they sell their albums at auction.  The auction room is full of dealers who buy the albums, break them up into small sets, and sell them on to individuals who are building up their collections.  These are the collections which, in the future will be put up for auction, sold, broken down and sold on again.

 

It’s the ultimate in recycling!

 

What I find particularly fascinating about this is that it involves little pieces of coloured paper, most of which are quite old and were once put on envelopes.

 

What I find strange is how many of these albums will be put away on dusty shelves.  You are not exactly going to turn up at a party with your stamp collection to show off to your friends.  Unlike my shoe collection!!!

 

Now for those of you who read my blogs often, you will know that I always manage to tie my story in with a legal point.  You are probably wondering how I’m going to get from dusty old stamps in draws to something relevant!

 

Easy!

 

Like many of the stamp collections I saw, most businesses will have papers that they put together lovingly when they first set up, only to shove them in a draw or in a shelf and forget about them until it’s time to be recycled.

 

What a wasted opportunity.

 

Every business should review their ts and cs, memorandum and articles of association and contracts of employment at least once a year.  Are they still fit for purpose.  Are they up to date.  Is anything missing.

 

Kleyman & Co Solicitors.  The full service law firm.  More exciting than stamp collecting!