Card collecting in the UK has been a serious hobby for decades. I lived in England in the early 70's and there were organized public auctions, mostly of British cards, but also including sports cards from the US. I can remember, as a young teenager, arriving too late an an auction to bid on a near complete set of T201's. Here is a link to one big London dealer:
http://www.londoncigcard.co.uk/catalogues.php