Britannia AuctionsBusiness relocation and downsizing sales in Liverpool
Freight decides a lot of moves on Merseyside. A haulage or warehousing firm follows the port work from an older dockside unit at Bootle to a newer shed at Knowsley or Speke, and the old racking, the older forklifts, the pallet wrappers and the yard equipment stay where they were. Pharmaceutical and food producers moving within Speke leave process kit that was fitted to the old building. Automotive suppliers at Halewood change what they make and the machines that made the old parts go. Construction and waste firms leave plant in the yard.
We sell all of that by online timed auction, catalogued in place while you are still trading from the old site. Viewing is one day. Collection runs in a fixed window after your last day, planned around the access.
Downsizing works the same way against a lease handback. Tell us the date the keys go back and we build the sale around it.
Racking and handling kit from the port estates
Warehousing firms that move between the dock estate and Knowsley Industrial Park leave the same list every time. Racking, cut to the old floor. Forklifts and reach trucks that are older than the new fleet contract allows. Pallet wrappers, dock levellers, weighing kit and the odd mezzanine. None of it is glamorous and all of it is worth cataloguing, because hauliers and storage operators in Kirkby, Huyton, St Helens and Widnes use the same equipment.
We sell racking by run and by bay, so a small operator can take a few bays and a large one can take the shed. Mezzanines are sold in place with the buyer dismantling under our supervision to a fixed date.
Container handling equipment and yard plant suit a narrower set of operators. We photograph them well and describe them fully, and bidding is online, which reaches port operators anywhere in the UK.
Tight dockside roads and easy outer estates
Access is the first question in a Liverpool relocation sale, and it is answered site by site. We walk the route when we first visit, check what vehicle can reach the doors, whether there is turning space, what the loading facilities are and how the yard is shared, then put the answer in the lot description so buyers can price the removal before they bid. A large lot on a tight road may need staggered slots, a smaller vehicle or a crane, and the catalogue says which.
Pharmaceutical and food process kit from Speke is catalogued for a national audience bidding online, and it travels by van or curtainsider. Decontamination statements and validation records go in the lot, and anything that cannot be cleared is withdrawn.
The Wirral is through the tunnels, and the M57 and M62 put Warrington and Runcorn within half an hour of a viewing day. For a dock estate handback we propose a timetable that clears the site after the auction closes, with the length set by the heavy lots and by how quickly buyers pay.
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 Liverpool
- We are moving from Bootle docks to Knowsley. Can you clear the old unit on a fixed date?
Yes. We agree the clearance date with you at the start and work back from it. The auction closes ahead of it, viewing is one day, and collection runs in slots, with the number of days set by the lot count and the access. On the dockside roads we limit the size of vehicle per slot so nothing blocks the road. Where a lot is still there at the deadline, we can move it and sell it from our own premises, so the landlord gets the unit back clean.
- Some of our process kit was used for pharmaceutical product. Can it go in the sale?
It can, once it has been cleaned down and you can confirm that in writing. The statement goes in the lot description and buyers rely on it. Equipment that cannot be decontaminated is left out. Validation, calibration, cleaning and service records go with each lot because contract manufacturers and laboratories will not bid without them. The same applies to food processing kit from the same estates, which needs a hygiene clean before viewing.
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.