1.  How did you get into the hobby?   
My first job after college was working shifts in Dover Docks. Being a lazy teenager all I did until it was time to go and work was lie in bed! I needed a change and Richard Kennedy, now owner of Folkestone Stamps said there was a job going at Benham. I was interviewed by Tony Buckingham and a lady called Sherry but by the time I started, a month later, she had told Tony where to stick his job; I was thrown in at the deep end and here I am nearly 40 years later.

2. What do you like about it ?  
It is a corny answer, but I think every day you discover something new, and not just a cover you have not seen before, it might be a signer for one of our covers or, more recently, learning about the ins and outs of our new website and how to get the best out of it.

3. Tell us your best stamp related memory / story ?   
I think I will split my answer in two. With new issue covers, and because it is local, I would say carrying lots of the Channel Tunnel covers on the first journeys. On one day I delivered covers to the Royal Train at Waterloo via dropping covers off to Major John Howard who took Pegasus Bridge during the raids on D-Day. On the older covers, we were offered our best ever collection just coming out of lock down. We did not make our fortune, but nearly every cover in it was the best one for that particular issue.

4. What is your favourite thing about Stampex?   
I always look forward to meeting our customers, some of them I have known since my first Stampex at the Horticultural Halls in the mid-1980s. I am always interested to see what they have been buying around the hall, I think it gives you a good feel of current trends.

5. Do you collect? If so, what do you collect & what is your favourite piece ?  
I have been in trouble for this answer before, but no not stamps, I don’t think you can be a dealer and collector, or at least I can’t, I need to keep things black and white. Personally, music is my passion and I have a wall filled with CDs and am never happier than cuddling a warm pint at the back of a strange gig. In stamps, I am very interested in the life of postmark collector George King from South London. It is not about listing all the postmarks he did, as there would lie madness, I am more interested in him. For example, I have been given access to the letters he wrote to his parents during World War I. I can only work on it as time allows, but I would love for it to become a book or website at some point.   

1. How did you get into the hobby? 
I got in the hobby a little over 4 years ago, when I started working here at HipStamp. I had family who collected before that, but working here got me much more immersed into the community, where I was able to grow and find more of a passion for philately. 

2. What do you like about it? 
My favorite thing about the hobby is the way it connects people from all walks of life. There's something for everything in stamp collecting, no matter who you are or what your background is. In one day of my job, I can connect with members of the philatelic community in Australia, Singapore, Japan, France, and then with PTS in the UK. Stamps have a unique way of bringing people together and I appreciate that. 

3. Tell us your best stamp related memory / story? 
I got married in 2021 and had the best time purchasing stamps to use on the envelopes. I decided to get topical stamps to use on invitations that were hyper-specific to each guest being invited. It was a fun way to share philately with my friends and family and personalize our letters to them. For example, I have some cousins with younger children and I used Sesame Street and Disney stamps on their envelopes. I was told the kids absolutely loved them! 

4. What is your favourite thing about Stampex? 
Recently I had the pleasure of attending virtual Stampex. I really enjoyed the Roundtables hosted by various PTS members! The ability for everyone to gather and have stamp-related conversations in a virtual setting was great. Each person had a voice, and I appreciated the opportunities for conversations with people that I otherwise would not have had. I would love to see more of this in the future.

5.  Do you collect? If so what do you collect & what is your favourite piece? 
I do collect! I am mostly a topical collector, but I also dabble in some of the more Classic US stamps as well. My favorite piece changes over time, but I really love a new addition to my collection I got, a ballet topical stamp, from Prokofiev's "Romeo and Juliet," a MNH Sweden #1141 (1975). It's nothing particularly valuable or expensive, but it's such a beautiful stamp! 
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In this new regular feature. We ask PTS Members to choose three of their favourite things from their websites and why.
Here Brian Austin, from Buckingham Covers shares his:

1. First, I need to choose a Buckingham Cover, which is tricky, I like it when everything clicks into place. So for the 2020 James Bond Issue, we worked with 007 Magazine and George Lazenby was our main signer. Getting people to agree to sign is incredibly difficult, and there is always a great buzz round the office when we get a yes. Via signers we have raised over £850,000 for charity since 2001, it would be great to get over £1,000,000 in the next few years.
https://www.buckinghamcovers.com/james-bond-signed-george-lazenby

2. I like a mystery…who produced these illustrated covers? They’re always unaddressed with   the Preston Brighton CDS. The covers are from Sanders, but whoever did the Brighton postmark knew what they were doing, but only seemed to do the Wilding issues. Why did they not do other covers? Not sure if I want to find out or not!
https://www.buckinghamcovers.com/080254-9d-10d-11d-illustrated

3. With a new set of stamps every month, don’t forget the older issues. This is a lovely clean cover for the 1973 Parliament issue with a special postmark and just great value at £10, so half the price of a new cover. So, I won’t say it is my favourite but a great example of everything being right, including value and if you could get the Prime Minister to sign it, it would be worth £50 - £75.

https://www.buckinghamcovers.com/1973-parliamentary-ldn-sw1-pm

A True Celebration of Philately 
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It’s been a week since the International Show was held in Essen.   Our Chairman Simon Carson & Suzanne Rae attended the show to meet PTS Members, see the exhibits and to take part in the international celebration of stamps. 

In their show round up, Essen shared that around 13,000 visitors attended over the 4 days.  There were 800 exhibits in the FIP Competition and countless chances to meet and connect with lectures, discussions and networking opportunities. 

Simon Carson, PTS Chair commented 
‘I spent two days in Essen. The show had an amazing buzz about it.  The size of the space and the number of people, dealers and exhibits was absolutely impressive.  This was one of the best shows I have visited in a long time.  It was jam packed with collectors enjoying searching through boxes and boxes of covers.  The bourse had a continental feel to it and the show was a wonderful example, rather like Midpex, of how an exhibition can mix dealers, societies and collectors at the heart of the space.   I was also very impressed with the Kohler stand, which stood out with their superb stand.  All in all, it was wonderful to see so many philatelists in one space enjoying the hobby and finding treasures to add to their collection.”

PTS Member Bill Barrell, commented
‘It was two years ago that i decided to commit to Essen as an International Show it was important for me to take a stand. I took a corner stand which i shared with three other dealers including PTS Member Doreen Royan. The show was very well attended there was a non stop buzz for the three days and we had lots of buyers coming to our stand. I took a curated collection of Bill Barrell stock with me which i drove over to the show.  I now know a lot more about the customs and feel confident we can smoothly repeat the process to attend other European shows. It was a show well received and wonderful to attend’