About Us
Sharps Pixley are London-based bullion brokers who sell retail physical precious metal bars to UK clients. In short, we supply "gold you can hold" – in all manners of speaking.
Sharps Pixley was originally founded through the merger of two bullion businesses whose origins date back to 1778. Sharps Pixley was formerly a central player in the London gold and silver bullion broking community as an original gold fixing member and chairman of the silver fix. The company name expired in 1995 but was revived in 2010 followed by the purchased of the company trade mark from the previous owners of the business, Deutsche Bank, thereby providing a link with the original firm.
(image courtesy of the LBMA)
Today Sharps Pixley combines three things. Leading-edge web technology to provide an informative transactional platform from which users can both research the bullion market and then if they chose, purchase gold. The business also combines innovative logistical and inventory management techniques to deliver those products efficiently and at the lowest available cost; and lastly the company seeks to leverage both the trust and heritage of a former business bearing its name and to remain faithful to the high principles under which that company operated.
Beyond its web presence Sharps Pixley also seeks to develop a host of new sales channels through which to promote gold sales to its clients, thereby making it more accessible. We refer to this as Operation Martini – any time, any place, anywhere.
It is our view that, despite the rising popularity for bullion in continental Europe and the US, there remains considerable unmet demand for retail physical gold in the UK that has been held back by three things - firstly limited ACCESS to the metal - secondly few RELIABLE intermediaries who can deliver gold at a reasonable price - and thirdly adequate MARKETING spend to promote its merits to the public. Compared to continental Europeans and North Americans, the UK is a comparative laggard in its gold purchasing habits, but it was not by tradition always so. There is an opportunity to rekindle latent interest in gold and this is aided both by the fact that it is one of the strongest performing asset classes of the last decade plus, looking ahead, there are growing concerns about further economic turmoil and the possibility of serious inflation. Early adopters will have landed a healthy return for their faith in the yellow metal, but observers confidently predict that there remains much upside in the coming years.
Sharps Pixley Ltd is owned by Ross Norman. Ross started his business career with entrepreneur and maverick Sir Clive Sinclair of Sinclair Research in Cambridge, before joining Johnson Matthey as Gold Refining Manager (then the worlds largest gold refiners), then as a gold trader at NM Rothschild & Sons (then the Chairman of the London Gold Fixing) and later Credit Suisse, where he was a Senior Dealer in physical bullion trading.
Ten years ago Ross co-founded FastMarkets Ltd which operates the websites TheBullionDesk.com, BaseMetals.com and MinorMetals.com. Ross has become established as one of the most consistently accurate forecasters in the bullion market and is frequently sought for his commentary and analysis of the metals markets from the leading newswires, TV stations and newspapers,