Britannia AuctionsBusiness closure auctions in Norwich
Food and drink processors close for the same reasons as anyone else, and they leave behind a building that is harder to sell from than most. Chilled rooms, stainless tables, packing lines and floor drains were built in, the product has to be cleared, and the lease runs out at Broadland or Costessey on a date that will not wait. Agricultural engineers and machinery dealers out in the villages close too, with a workshop, a yard of implements and a lane that a low loader cannot use.
We catalogue on site, sell everything in one online timed auction and hand the removal to the buyers. The auction is online and open to bidders well beyond the area. The processors and butchers at Great Yarmouth and Dereham, and the engineers at Wymondham and Attleborough, are within easy reach of a viewing day.
Tell us the empty date and what is on the floor through the form.
Selling a food unit down to the last stainless table
A food unit is sold in a set order. Product goes first, and anything you can sell as stock to competitors or traders we lot in bulk. Consumables, packaging, labels and cleaning chemicals follow. Then the kit: mixers, ovens, fryers, slicers, vacuum packers, checkweighers and conveyors, all of which are used by food processors and by catering firms.
Cold rooms and blast chillers need thought. Panelled rooms sell as a lot to a buyer who dismantles them, but the refrigeration plant has to be decommissioned by a qualified engineer first, and the landlord may want the room left in place. Agree that before we list it.
Stainless tables, sinks, racks and trolleys are the volume lots, and a small food business or butcher can take them away in a van. Each one is modest, a unit full of them is not, and they can be released early in the collection window.
Rural workshops, wide implements and a small lorry
Agricultural engineers and machinery dealers in the villages around the city bring a different sale. The workshop holds welding sets, a press, a lathe, hydraulic hose crimpers and the parts stock, and the yard holds implements, trailers, tanks and the odd tractor that was taken in part exchange. The farms around Aylsham, North Walsham, Wymondham and Diss are close enough to inspect the lots before the sale closes for the yard, and the workshop suits other agricultural engineers.
The lane is the thing to check. Many of these sites sit beyond the ring road down a single track, sometimes with a low bridge or a tight bend. We drive the route during our first visit, measure the gate and the turning space and put the largest vehicle that will fit into the catalogue, so that buyers arrive with the right lorry rather than turning back.
Where the yard is too tight to work at all, we bring the lots to our own premises and sell them there.
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 Norwich
- We still have frozen product in the cold store. Can it go in the auction?
Only if it can be sold lawfully and the buyer can collect it in the cold chain. Product within date and correctly labelled can be lotted to traders and other processors, but they need to collect on a set day with a refrigerated vehicle, and the cold store has to stay running until then. Product past its date or without labels cannot be sold and must be disposed of by a licensed contractor. Tell us early what is in the store and we lot what we can.
- The tractor and two of the trailers in the yard were taken in part exchange and never registered to us. Can they be sold?
Yes, if you can show how you came by them. A part exchange invoice or a signed sales record is enough to sell a tractor or trailer at auction, and the buyer registers it afterwards. What we cannot do is sell anything that still has finance registered against it, so we run a check on each vehicle before listing. If a check throws up a lender, we need their consent or the item comes out of the sale.
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.