Guides

Plain explanations of how selling business assets at auction works in the UK. Written for owners, directors and insolvency practitioners who need to make a decision, not for search engines.

• How a commercial asset auction works

  A stage by stage account of an online timed auction for business assets. It covers the asset schedule, cataloguing, viewing days, how bidding closes, buyer's premium and VAT, collection and how you get paid.

• Auction or private treaty: which route to choose

  Auction gives you a fixed date and an open market. Private treaty gives you a negotiated price and privacy. This guide sets out when each route suits, what you give up with each, and why many sales use both.

• Preparing machinery and equipment for sale

  What to do in the days before viewing so machines fetch what they should. Isolate and make safe, clean but do not repaint, find the tooling and manuals, sort out access, and avoid the mistakes that cost sellers money.

• Closing a business: a timeline for selling the assets

  Work backwards from the day you hand the site over. This guide covers lease end and dilapidations, when to instruct, when staff should leave, when to keep the power on, and how to leave enough room for collection and making good.

• What insolvency practitioners need from an auctioneer

  For office holders realising physical assets. Covers the instruction letter, the asset schedule and valuation basis, retention of title, finance and HPI checks, site security, health and safety during the sale, and the reconciliation you need for the file.

• How used machinery is valued

  Buyers pay for what a machine will do for them, less what it costs to get it out and running. This guide explains how make, hours, tooling, demand and removal cost feed a guide price, and why that price is not book value.

• Selling a commercial vehicle fleet

  Fleet sales fail on paperwork more than on price. This guide covers the V5C, MOT and plating documents, clearing finance before the HPI check, keys and livery, recording mileage and tachograph data, and how to defleet in batches while still trading.

• What happens to unsold lots

  Not every lot sells, but the site still has to be cleared. This guide covers why lots go unsold, private treaty after the sale, lowering or removing the reserve, a later sale, scrap and WEEE recycling, and what disposal costs.