Britannia AuctionsBusiness retirement auctions in Hull
The caravan and holiday home factories in and around Hull have a supply chain of small firms behind them. Joinery shops cutting furniture panels, upholsterers making seating, chassis fabricators, a firm doing nothing but window blinds. If you are retiring and selling the machines rather than handing the firm on, the unit at Sutton Fields or Priory Park has to be cleared and the contents sold to a date that suits the lease.
We do that by auction. Panel saws, edgebanders, CNC routers, sewing plant, welding sets, compressors and racks of material get catalogued on site and sold online over a week or two. Trade buyers view at the premises. Buyers pay us, collect in a fixed window, and we account to you after collection and cleared funds.
If you would rather talk it through first, the contact form is the place to start.
Woodworking and upholstery kit with a local market
A joinery shop supplying the caravan trade has industrial woodworking machinery of a kind that other joiners want. Sliding table panel saws, beam saws, edgebanders, wide belt sanders, CNC routers, dust extraction, spray booths and a press or two. Upholsterers have industrial sewing machines, cutting tables, foam saws and stapling equipment.
The trade that uses this kit is concentrated around the city, and Beverley, Hedon, Cottingham and Hessle are close enough to attend a viewing day, as are Goole and Barton across the Humber Bridge. The sale is online and open to bidders well beyond the area, so a larger CNC machine can go to a buyer who sends a haulier. What each machine makes depends on its age, its condition, the tooling with it and how easily it comes out.
Stock matters too. Board, veneer, fabric, foam and fittings sell to the same buyers in usable lots. We sort it by type rather than pile it, because a pallet of matched board is easier to describe and to bid on than a mixed heap.
Timing a sale around the caravan season
Caravan production runs to a season. The factories build hardest in the winter and spring for delivery before the summer holidays, and their suppliers follow the same rhythm. A retirement sale timed for the quieter months falls when suppliers are looking at their equipment and planning for the next build season.
That is a preference, not a rule. The date that fixes most sales is the lease. If the landlord wants the unit back on a set day, we close the auction a week or two before, run collection in the days after, and hand back an empty building.
Access is checked at the first visit, not read from the address. We look at the approach road, the turning space, the loading doors, the floor levels and the route a machine takes to the door, then write what we find into the catalogue. Sutton Fields and Priory Park were laid out for lorries, and older units near Stoneferry can be tighter.
What these sales can include
- Workshop machinery
- Hand and power tools
- Vans and company vehicles
- Trade stock and consumables
- Racking and storage
- Forklifts and pallet trucks
- Office furniture and IT
- Welding and fabrication equipment
- Compressors and generators
- Vehicle lifts and garage equipment
- Catering and canteen equipment
- Signage and shop fittings
How the sale runs
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 once the sale is reconciled, buyers have paid and the collection window has closed, from cleared funds.
The business retirement auctions page covers when an auction is the right route, what you need to prepare, values, reserves and what the buyer pays, collection day and unsold lots, other routes and when we suggest them.
Questions about selling in Hull
- We still have a contract to supply panels until the end of the year. Can we run the sale before we finish?
Yes, with care. We can catalogue and sell the machines you no longer need while the last orders go out, and hold the machines still in use back for a second sale or a collective auction once the contract is done. What we avoid is selling a machine and then finding it is needed for a final order. On the first visit we go through the order book with you and agree what is included.
- Our dust extraction and spray booth are fixed to the building. Are they included?
They can be. Extraction plant and spray booths sell, but removal is a job for the buyer's contractor and it has to be agreed with the landlord, because the ducting goes through the roof and the booth may be part of the fire strategy for the building. We describe them as removal at the buyer's cost and give a date by which the work must be done. If the landlord would rather they stayed, that is often the simplest answer.
More questions about retirement auctions
Related services
Guides
- Auction or private treaty: which route to choose
Auction gives you a fixed date and an open market. Private treaty gives you a negotiated price and privacy. This guide sets out when each route suits, what you give up with each, and why many sales use both.