Joan Bakewell is a journalist and television presenter with a strong focus on the arts, previously hosting and working on many well-known BBC programmes. She represented Poltimore House in the 2003 BBC programme Restoration. Joan was appointed Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) in the 2008 Birthday Honours. In 2011 she was appointed Baroness Bakewell of Stockport and sits in the House of Lords. She is also president of Birkbeck, University of London, and an author and playwright.

George Ferguson is a well-known conservation architect and entrepreneur who served as the first elected mayor of Bristol from 2012 to 2016. Ferguson was co- founder of Ferguson Mann Architects in 1979, where regeneration and historic building work formed the foundation of the practice. George is also Past President of the Royal Institute of British Architects (2003–2005). He was appointed Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE) in the 2010 New Year Honours for services to architecture and to the community in the South West of England.

Lord Mark Poltimore is the seventh Baron who succeeded his grandfather in 1978. He is Deputy Chairman of Sotheby’s Europe and as one of the company’s main auctioneers is involved in major client and business development activities in Europe. He also appears on the Antiques Roadshow as an expert on paintings.