Britannia AuctionsCatering and hospitality equipment auctions in Telford
The canteen is the last room in a factory to close. The workforce still has to eat while the lines are stripped out, so when we sell a plant on Hortonwood, Stafford Park or Halesfield the catering equipment is usually catalogued with the machinery but collected last. That suits the buyers, who are not the same people bidding on presses and moulding machines, and it suits the seller, who keeps a working kettle until the final week.
Telford was built with more factory space than most towns its size, and the food processors, component makers, plastics moulders and engineering firms on the estates each run a kitchen. Beyond the estates, the market towns nearby have pubs, hotels, restaurants and takeaways that change hands, and Tweedale and Heath Hill have cafes serving the trade units.
We sell catering and hospitality equipment by online timed auction, on site where possible, and from our own premises when the dates demand it.
The last room in the plant to close
A factory canteen on a Telford estate is a proper commercial kitchen. A plant with a few hundred staff runs a range, combination ovens, a rack dishwasher, a servery with hot and chilled counters, and a walk in cold room. When the plant closes or moves, all of it comes to market at once.
We catalogue it as its own section of the plant sale, or as a separate catering sale where the numbers justify it. The market is pubs, cafes, hotels and contract caterers, and Shrewsbury, Wolverhampton, Stafford and Bridgnorth are well placed to come and look before bidding closes, with bidding open across the UK. The estates were laid out for industrial traffic, and we confirm the loading bay and the turning space before the catalogue says what vehicle to bring.
Timing is the one thing to plan. If the catering lots close at the same time as the machinery, collection has to be sequenced so the canteen stays usable until the machinery crews have gone.
Narrow passages and booked slots in the old towns
Away from the estates, catering sales around Telford look like they do in any group of market towns. A pub in Shifnal or Newport closes when the tenant retires. A restaurant in Market Drayton changes hands and the new owner wants a different kitchen. The lots are the usual mix, a range, fryers, refrigeration, a dishwasher, a coffee machine and a dining room of furniture, and the buildings are old, with a kitchen at the back, a yard and a narrow passage between them.
For those we run collection in booked slots. Where it suits the building, small lots go out to buyers with vans in the first slot, and the heavy items are dismantled and moved by the buyer's own crew in a later one, with the gas already capped by a registered engineer.
Kit like this suits operators nearby as much as anyone, and bidding online means a buyer views once and does not need to come back until collection day.
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 Telford
- Our plant is closing in stages over three months. When should the canteen be sold?
Late, but listed early. We would catalogue the canteen with the first phase so the sale is marketed once, then set its collection window in the final weeks when the last staff have left. A later collection date is not a problem when it is stated in the listing. If the catering contractor runs the canteen, their equipment and yours must be separated in the catalogue first. We can also hold the catering lots back and sell them as a small separate sale if the plant's own timetable changes.
- The hotel kitchen was refitted two years ago. Would auction get a fair price?
A young kitchen has the advantage that its age and specification can be shown from the model plates and the service records, which is what a buyer prices on. A two year old combination oven or ice machine is the kind of lot an operator might otherwise buy new. For a single high value item we may suggest private treaty alongside the auction. Reserves can be set on the main lots, so you are not exposed on the ones that matter most.
More questions about catering equipment