Britannia AuctionsBusiness relocation and downsizing sales in Cardiff
A media company in Cardiff Bay downsizing to a smaller office has more to sell than it thinks. Edit suites, cameras, lighting, sound kit, monitors, desks, servers and the racks they sit in can all be catalogued and offered, and they leave through a lift and a loading bay rather than on a low loader. We catalogue them in the office, photograph each lot and sell by online timed auction with a single collection day.
At the other end of the city the sales are heavier. Builders merchants, fabricators, fleet operators and food producers on the Wentloog estates and around Lamby Way move to bigger yards or fewer of them, and the forklifts, racking, welding plant and vans that stay behind are catalogued where they stand, once we have seen what vehicle can reach them.
Both kinds of sale end the same way, with the premises handed back empty on the date in the lease.
Studio and office kit from the Bay
Studio equipment dates quickly, and what it makes follows the specification rather than the original price. Cameras, lenses, lighting and audio kit suit production companies, freelancers, colleges and hire firms, and bidding runs online and is not limited to the area. Edit workstations and servers are sold with the drives cleared, which you do before collection or which can be arranged where agreed, and we check whether the licences transfer. Desks, chairs, storage and meeting room furniture from a Bay office are the volume lots, and they go to other offices and to dealers in bulk.
The practical point is the building. Most Bay and city centre offices have a goods lift, a booked loading bay and a management company with rules about when things can move. We agree the collection day with the building before the auction opens, so buyers get a slot and the office is cleared in one go.
An office sale is usually the quickest kind, though the timetable still depends on the lot count and on the building's rules for the loading bay.
Yards and merchants on the flat eastern estates
A builders merchant or a fabricator moving within Wentloog or from Tremorfa to a bigger yard leaves forklifts, telehandlers, racking, cantilever racks, saws and welding plant. Fleet operators leave vans, tail lifts, tyre machines and workshop equipment. These are trade lots, and the trade in Newport, Barry, Caerphilly and Bridgend is well placed for the viewing day along the M4 and the A4232. Everyone else bids online.
We check the gate, the yard and the turning space before the collection plan is written, and the catalogue tells buyers what each lot takes to remove. Vans are driven away once they are paid for and insured. Racking is dismantled by the buyer inside the collection window, and heavier items need the right handling equipment arranged for the site.
Lots that are past use are described honestly and offered with low reserves rather than left in the yard. We aim to close the auction before the yard goes back and to collect after it, with the dates set by the lease and the size of the catalogue.
What these sales can include
- CNC machine tools
- Presses and press brakes
- Racking and mezzanine floors
- Forklift trucks
- Air compressors
- Workshop tooling and hand tools
- Office furniture and desks
- IT equipment and servers
- Packing and labelling machines
- Welding equipment
- Extraction and dust collection systems
- Vans and light commercial vehicles
How the sale runs
We visit the site, list the lots and photograph them in place. You tell us which items are moving and which are for sale, and we tag the sale lots so there is no confusion on the shop floor.
The catalogue goes online as a timed auction. Bidding stays open for a set period, usually one to two weeks, and each lot closes at a fixed time with an extension if a bid arrives in the last minutes. We hold a viewing day at your premises, and lots are offered as seen under the auction terms, with buyers expected to inspect first.
After the sale we invoice the buyers and take payment. You are paid once the sale is reconciled and the collection window has closed, from cleared funds, less the agreed commission and any agreed costs. Buyers arrange and pay for removal, and our staff attend to release lots against paid invoices.
The business relocation and downsizing sales page covers when a relocation sale makes sense, timing the sale around the move, what to prepare, valuation and reserves, unsold lots and leftovers.
Questions about selling in Cardiff
- Our office lease in the Bay ends in six weeks and we are moving to half the space. Is that enough time?
Six weeks is usually workable for an office, because nothing in it needs a rigger. We would visit, catalogue, then run the auction online for a week or two, with the length set by the number of lots. Collection is agreed with the building's management for the loading bay, and it is quick once a slot is booked. Decide early which desks and screens are going to the new office, and tag them, so the catalogue is right first time.
- We run vans from a yard at Wentloog and are cutting the fleet by half. Can you sell the vans with the workshop kit?
Yes, in the same auction. Vans are listed with mileage, service history and MOT status, and buyers collect them from the yard once paid. Vans on finance or contract hire need the lender's agreement first, and we check that before listing. The workshop lifts, tyre machines, compressors and diagnostic kit go in as separate lots. Bidding is online, so the catalogue reaches the motor trade well beyond Cardiff.
More questions about relocation sales
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.
- Selling a commercial vehicle fleet
Fleet sales turn on paperwork as much as on price. This guide covers the V5C, MOT and plating documents, clearing finance before listing, keys and livery, recording mileage and tachograph data, and how to defleet in batches while still trading.