Britannia AuctionsBusiness relocation and downsizing sales in London
In London the reason for the move is usually the rent. A food producer or a printer in Park Royal takes a cheaper unit further out along the A40 or up the M1, and a vehicle workshop in Croydon does the same down the A23. Some of the equipment goes with them. The rest, an older oven line, a press that needs a new foundation, racking cut to fit the old shed and a forklift too old to move, is sold before the keys go back.
We catalogue it in place and sell by online timed auction. The trade in the outer boroughs and beyond, from Romford and Dartford to Watford and Slough, is near enough to attend the viewing day, and bidding runs online and is not limited to the area.
Collection in London takes the most planning, and that is the part of the sale we spend the most time on.
Food and print lines from the western estates
Park Royal is food and print before it is anything else, and a relocation sale there leaves the kit those trades use. Ovens, provers, mixers, depositors, flow wrappers and stainless tables from a bakery or a ready meal producer suit other food firms across the south east. Printing presses, guillotines, folders and finishing equipment suit printers fitting out a cheaper unit of their own. Refrigeration and extraction are sold in place with the buyer removing them.
Brimsdown and Dagenham Dock leave heavier lots, with fabrication plant, recycling machinery, balers and vehicle workshop kit, and we check what each yard will take before the collection plan is written.
We photograph every line under power where the site still runs, and list the make, the model, the year and the throughput where the seller knows it. A bidder who will not travel buys on the photographs, so they are taken properly.
Collection vehicles and the emission rules
The Low Emission Zone and the Direct Vision Standard decide which lorries can come and collect. A vehicle that does not meet them cannot come in, and a buyer who does not know that finds out at the gate. We put the requirement in the catalogue and in the collection instructions, and we ask the heavy lot buyers to confirm their vehicle before their slot is booked.
Yards inside the North Circular are checked one by one. We walk the site during our first visit and look at the loading bay, whether it is shared, the restrictions on the street outside and where a crane could stand, since a lift from the road needs a permit that takes time. The collection window is then set long enough for the permits.
Lighter lots leave in vans, and a single collection day with timed slots keeps the yard moving. Where the site is too tight for the heavy lots, we collect them ourselves and sell them from our own premises.
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 London
- Our rent has gone up and we have three months to get out of Park Royal. When should the sale run?
Fix the move date first. The sale then closes ahead of it and collection follows, with the gap set by the heavy lots and the permits they need. Three months is enough time to do that without rushing, and the catalogue can be built while the lines are still running. The heavy lots need the longest lead time for permits and vehicles, so tell us about them on the first call. The office furniture and the IT go in as the last lots so the unit goes back empty.
- Can buyers collect from our unit with a large lorry, or do we need to move the lots somewhere else?
It depends on the site, which is why we measure it. We check what vehicle can reach the doors, the turning space, the loading bay and the restrictions on the street, and any vehicle coming in has to meet the Direct Vision Standard and the Low Emission Zone rules. Where the site is too tight or the street cannot be closed, we can collect the heavy lots and sell them from our own premises. That is decided at the site visit, lot by lot, rather than after the auction has closed.
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.