Closing a business: a timeline for selling the assets
When a business closes, the assets have to be gone before the keys go back. That sounds obvious, but the date the keys go back is fixed and the sale of the assets is not. If you leave the sale too late you end up paying rent on an empty building, or worse, paying a contractor to skip equipment that would have sold. This guide works backwards from the day you hand the site over.
Start with the hard dates
Write down the date your lease ends or the date you have agreed to vacate. If you are on a rolling arrangement, decide the date now and tell the landlord. Everything else is planned back from that day.
Then find out what the lease says about the condition you must leave the building in. Most commercial leases include a dilapidations clause. That usually means the building must be returned in the state it was let, with your fixtures removed and any damage made good.
Removing bolted down machinery leaves holes in floors and walls. Removing an extraction system leaves holes in the roof. Those are your problem, not the buyer's, so budget time and money for the making good.
Twelve weeks out or more: decide and instruct
Contact us as early as you can. The earlier we see the site, the more options you have. We can advise which assets will sell, which will not, and roughly what the site should achieve. That helps you decide whether an auction or private treaty is the right route, and whether to sell everything or keep some items for a new venture.
At this stage you also need to speak to your accountant about the tax treatment of the disposals, and to any lender who has a charge over the assets. Nothing on finance can be sold without the finance company's agreement.
Eight weeks out: schedule and stock
We prepare the asset schedule and you sign it off. From that point the assets in the sale should stay where they are. Staff need to be told that equipment is not to be moved, borrowed or sold privately.
This is also the point to sort out stock. Finished goods, raw material and work in progress can be sold in the same auction as the machinery, but they need counting and describing, and that takes time.
Six weeks out: staff and utilities
If staff are leaving, their last day should ideally fall before the viewing days so the site is quiet and safe for visitors. If you need some of them to help with the sale, agree that now. Someone who knows the machines and can answer questions on viewing day is worth keeping on.
Do not cut off the electricity yet. The site needs power and lights for viewing and for buyers to test equipment. Tell the utility companies your final date but keep the supply live until after collection days. Gas should be shut off at the meter once the last gas appliance has been disconnected by a Gas Safe registered engineer.
Four weeks out: the sale is live
The catalogue is online and bidding is open. Viewing days happen in this window. You or someone from the business should be on site for those days.
Meanwhile, get quotes for the work that will follow collection: filling floor bolt holes, capping services, patching roofs, removing signage and a final clean. Your landlord may want to inspect before accepting the keys.
Two weeks out: collection and the final handover
The sale closes and buyers collect over the agreed days. This is the busiest part of the whole process. Lorries, cranes and contractors will be on site, and they need supervision.
We manage the release of lots. You or your representative manage the building.
Anything not sold and not collected has to be dealt with now. We will advise on re-offering, private treaty or disposal. Electrical waste must go through a registered WEEE route, not into a skip.
With the site empty, the dilapidations work can start. Once it is done, take dated photographs of every room, read the meters, and arrange the handover with the landlord. Return all keys, fobs and alarm codes and get a signed receipt.
If your lease end is closer than twelve weeks, do not assume it is too late. Shorter timelines are possible. They just leave less room for things to go wrong. Get in touch with your dates and we will tell you what is realistic.