Travel agent and tour operator boss Daniele Broccoli has appeared on a TV auction selling furniture which belonged to his father and business founder to raise funds for a family holiday.
Broccoli’s father Carlo Broccoli, who founded Britaly Travel and Italy specialist operator Typically Holidays, died in January this year.
He asked his family to sell off his and his wife’s possessions after his death – including antique furniture and jewellery – and put it towards a trip to the region of Italy they were from.
Broccoli, who is also on Abta’s board of directors, appeared with his brother Davide on the programme, The Derbyshire Auction House on the Really TV channel, at the weekend, raising nearly £4,000.
The pair were on the half-hour show, which took four days to film and included filming at their parent’s home in Peterborough. It aired on Sunday, August 11.
“Buying antique furniture had become a hobby for my parents over the years,” said Broccoli, whose mum Edmonda died two years ago.
“My dad wanted us to sell it and put the money towards a family holiday but we didn’t know quite what to expect at the auction. It was mostly furniture and jewellery but there were also pots and pans. A small gold Lira coin which was found stuck to another coin sold for £150!”
In the end, 22 members of Broccoli family joined the holiday to where Daniele’s mum and dad grew up near Bologna, on the Adriatic coast of Italy.
“Luckily we knew a tour operator to find us a holiday,” joked Broccoli, who added: “We had the best time ever. We sang all my dad’s favourite songs, it was so heart warming.
“We had three days of the best weather and had the most relaxing time, eating ice-creams, and we stayed at a hotel that my mum and dad took me most years on holiday growing up.”
Broccoli, who used to speak to his father every other day, said his father’s passing had left a “huge hole” in his life. “I go to his grave every week for a chat and to tell him about the business,” he added.