Britannia AuctionsBusiness closure auctions in Coventry
A model changes, the platform moves to another plant, and the tooling shop that has fed it for years has nothing to make. That is how many closures in Coventry start. The premises at Binley or on Bayton Road are full of press tools, welding fixtures, machining centres and a robot cell that was bought for one job, and the lease still has a year to run unless the landlord agrees a surrender.
We help firms in that position turn the contents into money and hand the building back clean. The sale is online and timed, with viewing on site. Bidding is open to bidders well beyond the area, and the same trade at Nuneaton, Rugby, Leamington and Warwick is well placed to come and look before bidding closes. Heavy lots are sold with the rigging arranged and paid for by the buyer, and the collection days are planned around the date you agree with the landlord.
Contact us with the date and a plant list.
Robot cells and jigs bought for one contract
Automation built around one part is the awkward end of a closure sale. A welding cell with two robots and a fixture that fits one bracket has value in its robots and its controllers, but the fixture is scrap and the guarding is worth what a fabricator will pay. We separate the two in the catalogue. Robots and controllers lot with their reach and payload described, and the cell is offered as a whole to anyone who wants it, with the buyer responsible for the strip down.
Press tools are similar. Where the customer owns the tool, it goes back to them, and the contract usually says so. Where you own it, the choice is between a competitor who makes the same part and the value of the steel.
The general machine shop content around all this, machining centres, lathes, saws and the tool stores, is easier, because any engineering firm can use it. Battery and electric vehicle work brings test rigs and clean assembly kit, which are used by fewer trades and need a fuller description to reach them.
Handing back early and the dilapidations bill
Many tooling and component firms have leases that outlast the work. A landlord will often agree a surrender if the unit is handed back clean on a fixed date, and that date becomes our target. We would normally propose a sale that closes about ten days before it, with collection in the following week and the last days kept for the riggers, though the lot count and the access decide how tight that can be.
The M6 and the A46 put the Birmingham and Solihull trade well placed for the viewing day. Whether a short collection window is realistic depends on what we find at the site visit: the road in, the turning space, the loading door and what each heavy lot needs to leave the building.
What holds a handback up is usually the floor, not the plant. Bolted machine bases leave holes and cells leave trunking. We write into the sale terms that buyers remove their lots to the slab, and we keep our staff on site until the last lot has gone so that you can show the landlord an empty unit.
What these sales can include
- Production machinery
- Finished goods and raw materials
- Warehouse racking
- Forklifts and handling equipment
- Vans, trucks and trailers
- Office furniture and computers
- Workshop tools and benches
- Compressors and site services
- Catering equipment
- Retail fittings and display units
- Vehicle lifts
- Packaging machinery
How we run the sale
We visit, agree the scope and catalogue the lots on site. Everything from the main machines down to the contents of the stores can be included. Small items are grouped into sensible lots so that nothing is left behind.
The sale runs online as a timed auction. Bidders register, view the lots on a set viewing day at your premises, and bid until the closing time. Lots close in sequence, and a late bid extends the closing time on that lot.
Buyers pay the hammer price plus the buyer's premium, with VAT charged where it applies and shown separately on the invoice. They pay us, and you are paid once the sale is reconciled and the collection window has closed, from cleared funds. The auction terms set out what happens if a buyer does not pay or collect. The details for your sale are explained when we discuss it.
The business closure auctions page covers closure sales and the pressure of the date, who needs to agree before you sell, stock, records and the things people forget, collection, clearance and the empty building, when a closure sale is not the answer.
Questions about selling in Coventry
- Our biggest asset is a robot welding cell built for one part. Will anyone buy it?
The robots are the part with the widest use. Industrial robots and their controllers go to integrators, dealers and other manufacturers, and what they bring depends on the make, the age of the controller and whether the type is still supported. The fixture and the guarding are worth much less, so we lot the cell as a whole with a reserve and, if that fails, offer the robots separately and the rest for its weight. We give you our opinion on likely interest before you commit.
- The landlord has offered a surrender if we are out by a fixed date. Can a sale be done in that time?
Often, if there are three to four weeks between now and the date. Cataloguing takes a few days for a shop of moderate size, the auction runs for a week or so, and the rest goes on collection and the riggers, so how many lots there are and the access drive the timetable. If the date is tighter, the contents can be moved to our own premises for sale instead, which frees the building sooner. Send us the date and we will propose a timetable.
More questions about closure auctions
Related services
Guides
- 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.