Meet the Derbyshire scrap dealer starring in the second season of BBC1 show, The Bidding Room

Melissa Downhill, from Buxton, who runs Tin Man Scrap Metal Recycling with husband Mark, is one of the new dealers on the show’s second series, which launched on January 4.

The show, which is presented by Nigel Havers, is essentially a Dragons Den for antiques, where customers get their items valued before entering the Bidding Room to pitch their items to the dealers, in hopes of walking away with an offer.

Melissa said: “Mark and I own Tin Man Scrap, and the reclaim side came from the amazing things we would find in the yard.

“I’ve managed to build up a following with the reclaim as it’s so fashionable nowadays to have real items from yesteryear and renovating and restoration is such a big industry.

"I was approached by the program to become one of the new dealers on series two, because of my background and love for buying and selling antiques and collectables and anything weird and wonderful.”

The show, which is commissioned by Warner Bros, filmed its second series throughout October in Halifax.

Melissa added: “It’s a 25-episode series, of which I will appear in roughly half the episodes.

"Filming was a really positive experience, though obviously Covid-19 meant things had to be done differently.

"The other dealers and I were all sat spaced two metres apart, we had to hand sanitise every time we touched something, and we obviously couldn’t shake hands when we made deals with anybody, which was quite strange.

“There was lots of applauding instead.”

And Melissa is no stranger to the small screen, having previously appeared in Flipping Profit and Storage Hunters UK.

She said: "It’s been great for business; it generates a lot of phone calls and website hits and people coming to visit us when one of the shows is aired, which is brilliant.”

In 2020, Melissa and Mark were also both finalists for the Great British Entrepreneur Awards in the Family Business Entrepreneur of the Year category.

She added: "We’ve been lucky, and it’s been nice to have some positive distractions this year, in among having to close and business being affected.

"This year has had its challenges, but it also had its opportunities.”

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