Britannia AuctionsCatering and hospitality equipment auctions in Middlesbrough
Shutdowns set the rhythm here. When a process plant on the Tees goes into a turnaround, contractors arrive in numbers for a few weeks, and the town's hotels, guest houses, pubs and cafes are full. When it ends, the trade drops away just as fast. Catering businesses that opened for the boom come to us when the next quiet spell arrives.
The site side is different again. The chemical and steel fabrication firms feed their own workforces, and the contractors who run the turnarounds bring temporary kitchens in cabins. A cabin kitchen with a range, a servery, a dishwasher and a fridge run has a market of its own, and it can be lifted onto a lorry as one lot.
We sell both kinds by online timed auction, with a viewing day at the premises and a fixed window for buyers to collect.
Cabin kitchens and welfare units from the process sites
A contractor's kitchen on a process site is built to be moved. It sits in a jack leg cabin or a pair of linked units, with the cooking line, the servery, the extraction and the wash up already in place. When the contract ends the caterer either takes it to the next job or sells it. If they sell, the whole cabin goes as one lot and buyers bid on it as a working kitchen, not a pile of parts.
That changes the logistics. A cabin needs a crane or a hiab and a low loader, so the hard standing, the overhead clearance and the turning space are checked before the lot is catalogued. The lift arrangements go in the listing so buyers can price the collection before they bid.
The same sales often include the welfare units, the drying rooms, the site fridges and the temporary canteen furniture, which suit plant hire yards and construction firms rather than restaurants.
Restaurants and bars that opened for the boom
The town centre trade runs on a short cycle. A restaurant takes a lease and fits out a kitchen. It trades for a few years, then the owner moves on or the numbers stop working. The kit is often recent, and a two or three year old combination oven with its service history to hand gives a buyer more to go on, which is worth having before the viewing.
Most of these units are on streets rather than estates, so collection is by van from the back door. We book buyers into slots so the alley does not jam, and we hold small lots inside until each buyer arrives. Glasswashers, ice machines, under counter fridges and espresso machines are small enough for a car, and Stockton-on-Tees, Redcar, Hartlepool and Darlington are an easy drive from a viewing day.
Bar furniture, banquette seating, beer coolers and tills suit the same trade, and the smaller lots can travel by courier.
What these sales can include
- Cooking ranges and ovens
- Combination ovens
- Fryers and griddles
- Cold rooms and walk in freezers
- Upright and under counter refrigeration
- Display and serve over counters
- Dishwashers and glasswashers
- Ice machines
- Espresso machines and grinders
- Stainless steel tables and sinks
- Extraction canopies
- Bar equipment and beer coolers
- Tables, chairs and banquette seating
- Tills and till systems
How the sale runs
We visit, agree what is in the sale and catalogue it. Each lot is photographed and described as it stands, with known faults noted. The sale is listed online and marketed to operators and dealers across the UK. Buyers view on a set day and bid online, with lots closing in sequence on the sale date.
Lots are offered as seen under the auction terms, and buyers are expected to inspect before bidding. The buyer pays the hammer price plus a buyer's premium, with VAT charged where it applies and shown separately. We take payment before anything is released.
Collection follows over a window agreed with you. Buyers arrange and pay for removal, and our staff attend so that services are dealt with correctly and the premises are left as agreed with the landlord.
The catering and hospitality equipment auctions page covers what a catering sale looks like, disconnecting services and extraction, what your lease allows you to sell, clean it, label it, leave it working.
Questions about selling in Middlesbrough
- The turnaround has finished and the guest house is closing. Is a small kitchen worth an auction?
It depends on what is in it. A guest house kitchen with a domestic style cooker and a couple of fridges is better sold to a neighbour. One with a proper six burner range, a commercial dishwasher, an upright fridge and a coffee machine is worth listing, and the bedroom furniture and the dining room furniture can go into the same sale. Tell us what you have and we will say honestly whether an auction makes sense or whether a private sale would suit better.
- The kitchen cabin belongs to the caterer but sits on our site. Who handles the sale and the lift?
The caterer instructs us to sell, and we agree the collection arrangements with you as the site owner. The buyer is responsible for the crane and the transport, and we tell them in the listing what the site can accept, whether there is a permit system, what the induction requires and which days the gate is open. On collection day we are on site to see it out. If the caterer has left and the cabin is abandoned, the position is different and we look at the contract first.
More questions about catering equipment