Britannia AuctionsBusiness retirement auctions in Stoke-on-Trent
The pottery trades have a long supply chain in Stoke-on-Trent, and much of it is small firms. Mould makers, kiln builders, glaze and colour suppliers, decal printers, and the engineers who keep the factories running. If you are retiring and selling the contents of the works rather than the business itself, the specialist plant and the standard industrial kit go into one catalogue.
A retirement auction sells the contents of the works in one go. We catalogue on site, describe each lot properly, and run an online timed sale with a viewing day. Specialist equipment has a specialist market, and the online catalogue reaches it wherever it is in the UK. Buyers collect within a fixed window, and we supervise that.
Plastics, engineering, packaging and food firms across the six towns come to us for the same service. If you are winding down a business at Fenton or anywhere else in the city, tell us what you have through the contact form.
Kilns and mould shops when the owner retires
A mould shop is mostly benches, plaster mixing and case moulds, with a few machines. A kiln builder or a glaze supplier has more plant. Intermittent kilns, spray booths, ball mills, sieves, pumps and tanks. Some of it is specific to ceramics and some of it, the compressors, forklifts, racking and vans, is standard industrial kit that suits any trade.
The ceramics specific lots are where an online sale earns its fee. There are fewer buyers for a kiln than for a forklift, and they are spread across the country rather than sitting in the next town. A catalogue with proper photographs and the make, model, size and rating on each kiln reaches them. Any view we give on value is an opinion rather than a valuation, and for specialist plant we say so plainly.
The standard kit suits any workshop, and Newcastle-under-Lyme, Crewe, Leek and Uttoxeter are within a comfortable drive of the viewing day.
Niche kit finds its buyers online
Specialist equipment is the part owners worry about. A kiln, a glaze spray line, a pug mill or a plaster mixing plant looks like something nobody will want, and a local dealer may say so. The market for plant of that kind is national rather than local, which is what online bidding is for, and we say what interest we would expect before you commit.
Descriptions do the work. For a kiln we record the internal dimensions, the maximum temperature, the fuel or the electrical supply and the controller. For a mould shop we photograph the case moulds and list what they are for, because a buyer may want the moulds as much as the benches.
Collection is planned from the site rather than from the city. We check the approach, the turning space, the doors and the floor at the site visit, and note what lifting is available, so a kiln or a ball mill is described with its removal in mind before anyone bids.
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 Stoke-on-Trent
- Some of our moulds and patterns belong to customers. What happens to them?
They stay out of the sale. Customer owned moulds, patterns and case moulds are not yours to sell, so we ask you to identify them on our first visit and set them aside. We suggest writing to each customer with a collection date. Moulds you made and own can be sold, and a buyer taking over the same kind of work may well want them, though they are worth more to that buyer than to anyone else and the reserve should reflect that.
- Our works is on a site the family owns, and we are selling the land too. Does the auction fit around that?
Yes. We work back from the date the purchaser needs the buildings empty and set the auction so that collection finishes before it, with a margin. If the land sale has not completed, the auction can still go ahead, and having a clear building tends to help the property sale rather than hinder it. Where a purchaser wants some of the plant left in place, they can bid for it at the auction or agree a price with you beforehand, and we leave those lots out.
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.