Business retirement auctions in Derby

An auction suits a retirement sale when there is no buyer for the business as a going concern, or when the buyer only wants part of it. It also suits owners who want a clean end date rather than months of selling items one at a time.

The sale runs to a timetable. Lots are catalogued, the auction opens online, bidding closes on a set day and buyers collect within a fixed window. That gives you a date to hand back the keys.

If you have a small number of high value machines and no deadline, a private sale may bring more. We say so when that is the case. For most retiring owners, the mix of a few good machines and a large volume of smaller items is exactly what an auction handles well.

It starts with a conversation. We ask what you have, where it is, and when you need it gone. Then we visit, walk the premises with you and agree which items are included.

We catalogue the lots on site. Each lot gets a description, photographs and, where relevant, a serial number and condition note. The catalogue goes online and the auction is marketed to buyers in the trade.

Most sales run as online timed auctions. Bidding is open for a set period, usually a week or two, with a viewing day at your premises before it closes. Buyers pay us, then collect their lots during the collection window. We account to you after collection is complete and the funds have cleared.

You do not need to tidy the workshop or write a list of everything. We do the cataloguing. What helps is:

• A rough idea of the main items and any you want to keep
• Details of anything on finance, hire purchase or lease, because it cannot be sold without the lender's consent
• Access for cataloguing, viewing and collection
• Power and lighting kept on until collection, so buyers can see machines run
• Your target date for the premises to be empty

Keep manuals, keys, tooling and software dongles with the machines they belong to. A CNC machine with its control keys and documentation sells better than one without. Do not start selling items privately once we have catalogued them, as withdrawn lots damage the sale.

We give you a view on likely hammer prices before you commit. These are opinions based on recent sales of similar items, not guarantees. Used equipment is worth what a buyer will pay on the day.

Reserves can be set on the main items. A reserve is the minimum price you will accept. Set too high, the lot does not sell and you still have it. We advise on reserves that protect you without choking the bidding. Smaller lots usually go without reserve.

Buyers pay a buyer's premium on top of the hammer price. That is a charge to the buyer, not to you. VAT is charged on the hammer price where the seller is VAT registered, and on the premium in all cases. Our own commission is agreed with you in writing before the sale is listed.

Buyers collect during a fixed window after the sale closes, typically over a few days. Small items go out in vans. Large machines are removed by riggers or machinery movers appointed by the buyer, at the buyer's cost. Our staff are on site to check paid invoices and release lots.

You need to keep the premises open and safe during that window. Forklift access, loading bays and clear gangways all speed things up.

Lots are sold as seen. The buyer inspects on the viewing day and bids on that basis. Once the hammer falls, the risk passes to them.

A few lots may fail to reach their reserve or attract no bids. We can re-offer them, sell them afterwards to an underbidder, or agree a route to clear them so the premises are empty on your date.

Not every retirement sale is best served by a single auction. If a buyer is taking over the business, you might only need to sell the items they do not want, which is a smaller consignment into one of our collective sales.

If you have a couple of high value machines and a large amount of low value stock, we might split them. The machines go into a machinery sale where the right buyers are looking. The rest goes into a general sale or is cleared as a job lot.

If the lease has months to run and you are not in a hurry, private treaty on the main items may bring more than an auction. We tell you which route we think fits before you commit to anything.

Derby has one of the largest concentrations of aerospace, rail and automotive manufacturing in the country, and a deep supply chain of machining, fabrication and precision engineering firms around it. Industrial areas include Osmaston Park and Ascot Drive to the south of the centre, Sinfin Lane and Sinfin Commercial Park further south, Raynesway to the east, and Pride Park next to the railway station. Infinity Park Derby is a newer site to the south of the city near the A50. Logistics operators use sheds along the A38 and A50 corridors.

The M1 is to the east, with junction 25 reached along the A52 Brian Clough Way and junction 24 via the A50. The A38 runs north to south through the west of the city and the A50 gives a route west to Stoke-on-Trent. Derby railway station is on the Midland Main Line. Heavy engineering plant is common, and the southern estates have good access for low loaders.

We regularly handle retirement auctions in Derby and across Derbyshire. Sales are run on site, with viewing and collection at your premises, and the online catalogue reaches buyers well beyond the area.