Britannia AuctionsBusiness relocation and downsizing sales in Coventry
Coventry's supply chain is changing what it makes. Tooling shops and component makers at Binley and Bayton Road are refitting for electric vehicle and battery work, and the machines that made parts for the old drivetrains do not always fit the new plan. Some firms move to a bigger unit to do it. Others downsize to the work they have kept. Both leave equipment on the old floor.
We sell that equipment by online timed auction, catalogued in place while you are still trading. Machine tools, presses, jigs, welders and inspection kit are photographed where they stand, tagged so nobody moves a sale lot by mistake, and collected in a fixed window after your move.
The rest of the Midlands trade is able to get to a viewing day without a long trip, and online bidding opens the sale to buyers from any part of the country, with buyers arranging their own haulage.
Tooling shops changing what they make
A tooling shop that has won battery pack or motor housing work needs different machines from one that made gearbox parts. The old kit is often surplus rather than worn out, which shows in the condition and in the catalogue. Wire and die sink eroders, jig borers, grinders and older machining centres suit general engineering shops, and the trade in Nuneaton, Rugby, Warwick and Leamington is close enough to view before bidding online.
Jigs, fixtures and press tooling are the awkward part. Where the tooling belongs to the vehicle maker rather than to you, it cannot be sold, and we help you separate it before the catalogue is written. Where it is yours but specific to a part nobody makes any more, our estimate is likely to be its material value, and we say so before the catalogue is written.
We give an estimate per lot and agree reserves on the main machines. Estimates are opinions, and the market on the day decides.
Collection when the vehicle plants set the pace
Supplier moves in Coventry are timed by the customer, not the landlord. A line change at the vehicle plant fixes the last day of production at the old site, and the sale has to fit around it. We catalogue early, run the auction so it closes in the final week, and collect after the last shipment has gone.
Access is checked at the site visit rather than assumed from the address. We look at what vehicle can reach the doors, the turning space, the loading facilities and the floor levels, and the catalogue carries the answer. The M6 and M69 put Leicester and Birmingham inside an hour, Bayton Road at Exhall is close to junction 3, and Middlemarch and Ryton sit on the A45 for the airport and the M42.
Where a lot is on hire purchase or lease, the lender has to consent before it is sold. We raise that on our first visit, because consent takes time to obtain. Office and IT lots go in the same 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 Coventry
- Some of our tooling is owned by the car maker. How do we keep it out of the sale?
Tell us at the site visit and we tag it as customer property before anything is photographed. Customer owned tooling is usually marked or listed on a tool register, and we check the register against the shop floor. Anything in doubt is left out until you have confirmed it with the customer. Selling a customer's tool by mistake is worse than leaving a lot out, so we err that way.
- We are downsizing after losing a contract. How quickly can a sale run?
Three to four weeks from the first call is workable if the site is ready for us, though the timetable turns on the number of lots and on the access. We visit within days, catalogue in one or two visits, and put the sale online with one viewing day. Collection follows, and its length depends on how the heavy lots come out. A longer run gives the catalogue more time to circulate, which you weigh against the rent on a unit you have stopped using.
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.