Britannia AuctionsBusiness relocation and downsizing sales in Glasgow
Glasgow firms move outwards. An engineering company in an old unit on the Clyde Gateway or in Rutherglen takes a modern shed at Hillington or Clydesmill, and the machines that were bolted down in the old building thirty years ago are not going with it. Vehicle workshops and body shops do the same when a lease ends and a bigger unit comes up on the M8.
We sell what stays by online timed auction. The catalogue is built in the old unit while you fit out the new one, and buyers collect in a window after the move. The main estates are reached from the motorway without passing through the centre, and what each unit will take is checked before a heavy lot is catalogued.
The trade in Paisley, East Kilbride, Motherwell and Hamilton is close enough to walk the lots on the viewing day, and online bidding opens the sale to buyers from any part of the country.
Vehicle lifts and engineering plant from the western estates
Hillington is a motor and engineering estate, and its moves leave a familiar list. Two post and four post lifts, tyre changers, wheel balancers, spray booths, compressors and diagnostic equipment from a vehicle workshop suit other garages and the general trade across central Scotland. A spray booth is a dismantle lot with a fixed removal date, and the buyer's fitters take it down.
Engineering firms leave machine tools, welding plant, extraction and the tooling that goes with them. The older manual machines suit small shops and colleges. CNC machines are bought on their control and specification, so the catalogue reaches a bidder anywhere in the UK who will arrange transport. We photograph everything under power and list the control, the tooling, the swing and the maintenance record.
Office furniture and IT from the same premises goes in as the last lots of the sale, so the unit is handed back bare.
Old units in the city given up for new sheds
The older units inside the city boundary are where the difficulty lies. A tenement style factory in the east end, or a riverside works with one narrow gate, may have taken its machines in before the street was changed. We walk the route on the first visit, measure the gate and the yard, and put the access in the catalogue so bidders know what they are buying into. Where the street will not take the vehicle, the buyer arranges a smaller vehicle or a lift from the road, and we allow time for it in the collection window.
The newer estates at Clydesmill, Queenslie, Hillington and Clydebank are laid out differently, and we check each site rather than assume. A move from an old unit to a new estate is a sensible point to sell, because the transport you were about to pay for becomes the buyer's to arrange.
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 Glasgow
- We are moving to Hillington and the landlord wants the old unit back in four weeks. Can you clear it in that time?
Four weeks is tight but workable. We visit in the first days, catalogue in one or two, and run the auction for around ten days with viewing near the end. That leaves a week for collection and a few days of margin. The lots that take the time are the heavy ones, so tell us on the first call whether there is a machine that needs a crane. If there is, we set its removal date first and build the rest of the plan around it.
- Our spray booth cost a lot to install. What is it worth now?
Less than it cost, and the figure depends on the booth. It is a dismantle lot for another body shop or for a booth installer, and what it makes follows the make, the age, the burner and whether it still holds a current inspection. We give you our opinion when we walk the site. What helps is the paperwork, the manuals, the drawings and the last service record, so gather those before we come. The buyer takes it down and makes good.
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.