Britannia AuctionsCommercial vehicle and fleet auctions in Nottingham
Nottingham's ring road links its industrial estates in a loop, and that shapes how we sell vehicles here. A wholesaler with a warehouse at Colwick, a printer at Lenton Lane, a distribution firm at Blenheim Industrial Estate in Bulwell and an engineering firm at Beeston can all be catalogued in one day, and a buyer on a viewing day can see vehicles at more than one site without crossing the city centre.
The fleets themselves are mixed. Wholesalers run Luton box vans with tail lifts and 7.5 tonne rigids. Printers run panel vans on delivery rounds. Pharmaceutical suppliers in Beeston run temperature controlled vans that need careful description. Distribution operators near junction 26 of the M1 run tractor units and curtainside trailers, and construction firms run tippers and plant trailers.
Each one is listed separately in an online timed auction, so each is priced on its own, and the sale closes on a date agreed with you.
Box vans and rigids from the wholesale trade
Wholesale businesses turn over vehicles for a simple reason. They deliver to shops and caterers on fixed rounds, and when a round is dropped or the business moves to a courier, the vans that served it are surplus straight away. A Luton with a tail lift has a broad market, from removals firms and delivery contractors to traders and other wholesalers, and the tail lift is the first thing any of them looks at.
We test the tail lift, photograph the platform and note the last inspection date, because lifting equipment on a vehicle needs a thorough examination record like any other lifting kit. Body condition matters too. A Luton with a dry, sound box and a working roller shutter is worth more than one that lets water in, and we say which is which.
Rigids with box bodies from the same fleets are aimed at small hauliers, and Mansfield and Newark are in reach of a viewing day.
Cataloguing vehicles at more than one site
A business with vehicles at two or three depots often assumes it must bring them together before a sale. It need not. We catalogue at each site, list every vehicle in the same online auction with its location shown, and run viewing by appointment at each address. Buyers see what they want to see and collect from where the vehicle is. The A52 and the ring road make that a short trip between Lenton Lane and Colwick.
Where a site is closing before the sale can run, the vehicles from it can be moved to our own premises or to the depot that is staying open. Where a vehicle is not driveable, the listing says so and transport can be arranged as part of the removal.
Keys and V5C documents for every vehicle are held by us from the day the catalogue goes live, whichever site the vehicle is on. That stops a van going out on a job the day before collection and coming back with a fresh dent.
What these sales can include
- Panel vans
- Long wheelbase vans
- Luton box vans with tail lifts
- Tippers and dropside trucks
- Refrigerated vans
- Rigid lorries
- Tractor units
- Curtainside trailers
- Flatbed and skeletal trailers
- Minibuses and welfare vehicles
- Pickups and 4x4s
- Car derived vans
- Plant trailers
- Vehicle mounted equipment
How the sale runs
We photograph and describe each vehicle, record the mileage and note known faults. The vehicles are listed in an online timed auction and the catalogue is marketed to trade buyers, hauliers, owner drivers and export buyers. Bidders can inspect on a viewing day, usually at your yard or ours, and lots close 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 on the buyer's invoice. Your charge is a separate commission, with any costs agreed in advance, deducted from the proceeds.
Reserves can be set on individual vehicles where there is a clear reason, such as a finance settlement figure.
The commercial vehicle and fleet auctions page covers when auction suits a fleet, paperwork that affects the price, livery and fleet kit, after the hammer.
Questions about selling in Nottingham
- We run temperature controlled vans for a pharmaceutical customer. Do they need special treatment at auction?
They need careful description more than special treatment. Buyers want to know the age of the refrigeration unit, whether it records temperature and whether calibration records exist. We run the unit before the sale where it is safe to do so and put what we find in the catalogue. Where a pharmaceutical fleet comes with a full service file, it is worth having in the listing, because it answers what a bidder would otherwise have to ask. Strip any customer branding before the sale and hand the service files over with the V5C.
- Our vans are spread between Bulwell and Beeston. Do buyers mind travelling between them?
Not usually. The ring road and the A52 put the two within about half an hour of each other, and a buyer interested in a particular van goes to that van. We list the location of each vehicle in the catalogue and run viewing by appointment at both sites. Bidding is online, so a buyer in Derby or Loughborough can bid without visiting at all, usually after asking us about a vehicle's condition. Collection is from the site where the van is.
More questions about vehicles and fleets
Related services
Guides
- Selling a commercial vehicle fleet
Fleet sales turn on paperwork as much as on price. This guide covers the V5C, MOT and plating documents, clearing finance before listing, keys and livery, recording mileage and tachograph data, and how to defleet in batches while still trading.