Britannia AuctionsCatering and hospitality equipment auctions in Milton Keynes
Much of the catering property in Milton Keynes is modern, and that changes what a sale looks like. A chain restaurant in a leisure unit, a hotel by junction 14 or a coffee shop on a retail park may have level access, a roller shutter or a wide back door and somewhere for a van to stand. We check all of that when we first visit and put it in the catalogue.
What comes to market here is mostly chain refits and hotel changes. Restaurant groups have a lot of sites here and refit them on a cycle, and a refit leaves a matched set of equipment a few years old. Business hotels near the M1 change brand and strip out the restaurant. Contract caterers on Knowlhill and Kingston lose a technology firm's staff restaurant when the firm moves. Bletchley adds older pubs and cafes on streets that predate the grid.
We sell all of it by online timed auction, and Bedford, Northampton, Aylesbury and Luton are close enough to inspect the lots before the sale closes.
Matched sets from a chain refit
A chain refit has one useful feature: everything in it was bought together. The ranges match, the refrigeration is the same make and age throughout, the dishwasher was specified for the room, and the front of house furniture is a single design in quantity. Somebody opening a restaurant can fit out from one auction, and matched furniture can be lotted in quantity for a dealer.
The equipment also tends to be young. A group refits on a cycle, so what comes out is often only a few years old, and it was serviced under a group contract.
The awkward point is the lease. Extraction, fire suppression, grease traps and the shopfront are often listed as landlord's fixtures, and only the lease and the fit out records will say, so we read them before we catalogue and leave out anything that is not clearly yours.
Collection off the grid roads
The grid road system was laid out for lorries, but the collection turns on the unit rather than the road. We check the yard, the loading bay, the turning space and the door sizes on the visit, and the catalogue tells buyers what vehicle the site will take.
Hotels are the main users of that. A hotel restaurant near junction 13 or 14 is a service yard job: a booked slot, a porter to open the goods door, a trolley route that avoids the lobby, and a working hotel in front that must not notice. We sell the surplus and leave the trading kitchen alone.
Bletchley is the exception. The older pubs and cafes there sit on ordinary streets, and we plan those collections the way we would in any older town, with booked slots and the handling arranged to suit the route.
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 Milton Keynes
- Our restaurant is in a leisure unit with a shared service corridor. Is that a problem for collection?
Usually not, but it needs the centre management on side. Ask them for the delivery hours, the access rules and what notice they want, because most centres ask for a list of who is coming and when. We supply that. Collection is booked in slots that fit the delivery hours, the heavy lots go out together with one crew, and we are on site to sign buyers in and out. Tell us early if the centre charges for out of hours access, because that changes the plan and we would rather know before the listing goes up.
- The equipment is only two years old. Would private treaty do better than auction?
Possibly for one or two items, and we will tell you which. A nearly new combination oven or a large walk in cold room can be worth offering directly where there is a buyer for that type. The rest of a restaurant, the refrigeration, the small kit, the bar and the furniture, usually suits an auction, where it all goes on one date and buyers compete for it. Our usual advice is to auction the lot and pull out a single item for private treaty only where the case is clear.
More questions about catering equipment