Britannia AuctionsBusiness relocation and downsizing sales in Edinburgh
Edinburgh sales are rarely about one big machine. They are about a yard, a workshop or a print room full of medium sized lots that a contractor, a garage or a printer no longer needs after a move. Construction firms give up a second yard when the order book shrinks. Vehicle workshops at Sighthill move to a bigger unit at Newbridge. Food producers fold two kitchens into one. Firms in the older units at Seafield and Leith move out ahead of redevelopment and take the chance to trim what they own.
We catalogue the lots where they stand and sell them by online timed auction, with viewing on one day and collection in a fixed window after the close. What each yard will take for a large vehicle is checked at the site visit, and the collection days are planned around it.
The trade in Livingston, Dalkeith, Musselburgh and Dunfermline is a short trip from the viewing day, and bids are placed online and the sale is open to bidders well beyond the area.
Contractor yards trimmed to size
A construction contractor downsizing keeps the yard and sells the surplus. Excavators, dumpers, rollers, site cabins, scaffolding, small plant and the hand tools in the stores are catalogued on the hard standing and sold from there. Vans and pickups go in the same sale, listed with mileage and service history, and driven away once paid for.
Plant of this kind is used by contractors, hire firms and farms, in the UK and beyond, and the sale is online and open to all of them. The A720 bypass and the M8 put West Lothian and Fife near enough to attend the viewing day. How a tracked machine leaves depends on the yard, the surface and the gate, which we check before the catalogue is written.
The site cabins and the scaffolding are the lots that catch people out. A cabin needs lifting equipment suited to its weight and to the space around it, and scaffolding is catalogued by the bundle with the count stated. We describe both properly.
Leaving the older units before the developers arrive
The units at Seafield and around the port are older, and a firm leaving one is often leaving ahead of a change of use. That gives a fixed date and usually a shorter notice than a normal lease end. Marine trades leave welding plant, hoists, compressors and workshop tooling. Printers leave presses, guillotines, folders and finishing kit, which are heavy for their footprint and need a rigging plan. Vehicle workshops leave lifts and tyre equipment.
Access varies from one yard to the next on that side of the city. We measure the gate, the yard and the route out, and the collection plan says what each lot needs before anyone bids. Lighter lots leave in vans over a single collection day.
Office and IT equipment from the same premises is sold last, so that the unit goes back bare. Where the timescale is very short, we can collect the lots and sell them from our own premises instead.
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 Edinburgh
- We are giving up a yard at Loanhead but keeping the one at Sighthill. Can you sell from both?
Yes. Lots are listed with their location and the buyer collects from whichever yard the lot is in. If it suits you, move the small plant and the tools to the yard you are keeping first, so that the yard you are leaving holds only the lots for sale and can be handed back in one go. The heavy plant stays where it is, because moving it twice costs money. We agree the split during our first visit.
- Our printing presses are on the first floor of a unit at Leith. Is that a problem?
It is a rigging job, and the catalogue needs to say so. We measure the stair, the door, the landing and the floor loading, find out whether there is a hoist, and note where a crane could stand in the street. That goes in the lot description with the weight of each press. A bidder can only price the rigging if the catalogue describes it, which is why the measurements go in before the lot opens. A longer collection window is set for those lots.
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.