Britannia AuctionsBusiness closure auctions in Portsmouth
Defence work runs on contracts, and when a contract ends the subcontractor that built up a precision shop at Hilsea or Farlington can find itself with a lease, a floor of machines and no order book. The machines are usually well kept. CNC mills, grinders, coordinate measuring machines and electronics test benches were bought to meet a specification, and the same specification is what another engineering firm reads before it bids.
A closure sale gathers the lot into one online timed auction and puts the removal on the buyers. We catalogue on site, run a viewing day, and release each lot against a paid invoice during the collection window. Bids are placed online and the sale is open to bidders anywhere in the UK, and the engineering trade at Havant, Fareham, Gosport and Waterlooville is an easy drive from a viewing day.
Use the form to tell us what is on the floor and when the landlord expects the keys.
Precision machines and test gear from the defence supply chain
Defence subcontractors keep better records than most, and that helps the sale. Calibration certificates, maintenance logs, tooling lists and manuals are photographed and attached to the lots, because a buyer paying for a coordinate measuring machine wants to know when it was last verified. A documented service history is one of the things a bidder weighs up, so dig the paperwork out before we visit.
Electronics assembly and test reaches a different set of trades. Reflow ovens, pick and place lines, oscilloscopes, signal generators and environmental chambers suit fewer buyers, and bidding for them is online and open well beyond the region. We lot test equipment individually where the value justifies it and group the bench stock, the component drawers, the ESD furniture and the hand tools into sensible lots so that nothing is left on the floor.
One warning. Kit that belongs to the customer, supplied as free issue for a contract, is not yours to sell. Separate it before the catalogue and get the customer to collect.
Getting lots off the island and out of the wharf yards
Portsea Island has a small number of ways on and off, and they carry a lot of traffic. Collection from a unit on the Airport Industrial Estate at Hilsea depends on the yard and the door as much as anywhere else, and the run in from the M275 and the turn onto Portfield Road need timing.
The marine trades at Trafalgar Wharf are a different problem. Sailmakers and boatbuilders work in lofts and sheds where a forklift cannot always reach the door. How sail loft tables, sewing machines, laminating benches and vacuum pumps leave depends on their weight and on the route out, so the catalogue carries the door width, the stair and the standing space and buyers bring the handling equipment that suits.
Dunsbury Park at Havant sits beside the A3(M), in newer units with yards laid out for articulated lorries, and the Chichester and Petersfield trade reaches it without touching the city. We measure the yard and the doors there as we would anywhere.
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 Portsmouth
- Some of the tooling and fixtures in the shop were supplied by our defence customer. Can they be sold?
No. Free issue tooling, fixtures, gauges and drawings stay the property of the customer and usually carry a contract clause saying so. Set them aside, tell the customer the closure date and have them collected before the viewing day. Selling them by mistake causes a dispute you do not need while the lease is running out. We list only what you own outright or what a lender has released, and we ask about customer owned kit at the site visit.
- We hold export controlled equipment and drawings. How is that handled in a closure sale?
Controlled equipment can still change hands within the UK, but the buyer may need to be an established trade purchaser and the paperwork has to follow it. Tell us on the first visit which items are affected and we will lot them separately, with a note in the catalogue and collection only against identification. Drawings, software, data and customer files are not sold with the machines. Wipe or remove them before the sale and keep a record that you did.
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.