Britannia AuctionsCommercial vehicle and fleet auctions in Telford
The estate roads at Telford were laid out for lorries, which is a help when a fleet has to be viewed and collected. Hortonwood, Stafford Park and Halesfield each hold factories with their own yards, and the vehicles in those yards match the work inside. Automotive component makers run curtainside rigids on scheduled runs to the car plants. Plastics moulders and food processors run box vans and fridge vans on daily deliveries. General engineering firms keep a works van and a pickup for site visits.
Those fleets change hands when a supply contract moves, a factory consolidates onto another estate, a lease ends, or a business is sold and the buyer brings its own transport. In each case the vehicles can be sold as lots in their own right rather than folded into a deal for the building.
We list them in an online timed auction, hold a viewing day at the factory, and buyers pay us before they collect.
Rigids from the component makers on Stafford Park
A curtainside rigid on a parts run to a car plant has done a predictable life. Same route and same weights, with a service done on schedule because a missed delivery stops a line. That history is what a bidder reads, so we ask for the service file, the MOT, the last few inspection sheets and the tachograph calibration certificate before we write the listing.
Vehicle mounted forklifts and tail lifts need their own test certificate, and we list it next to the MOT. Where the rigid carries the supplier's livery, we recommend removing wrapped vinyl before photography. Painted livery stays.
Stafford Park is next to junction 4 of the M54, so a haulier from Wolverhampton is at the gate in twenty minutes and a buyer from Shrewsbury comes in on the A5. Collection runs from the factory yard in a window we agree with whoever is still managing the site.
Finding the right unit on a numbered estate
Telford's estates are divided into numbered phases, and a buyer new to Halesfield can waste time finding the right gate. We put the phase, the unit number, the entrance to use and a contact in every listing, and we send buyers a map for the viewing day so they arrive at the yard and not at a neighbour's reception.
The smaller repair and trade businesses at Tweedale and Heath Hill are where we take more care over access. On the first visit we check the forecourt, the turning space and whether a yard is shared, and from that a fleet of works vans from a closing engineering firm is either viewed on site or collected and sold from our own premises, where buyers can start engines and look underneath without blocking anyone.
Whichever way the sale runs, the catalogue tells buyers what to expect. Bidding is open across the UK, with Shrewsbury, Bridgnorth, Newport and Stafford in reach of a viewing day.
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 Telford
- Our moulding factory on Hortonwood is moving production to another site and we have six box vans and two fridge vans that will not be needed. When should we list them?
List them so the auction closes a week or two before the last delivery from Hortonwood, with collection days after it. That way the vans keep working until the end and the yard is empty when the keys go back. We photograph early and describe the vans as they will be on the viewing day. Fridge vans need the refrigeration unit run where it is safe to do so and described, and buyers ask whether it runs on standby power, so tell us. Have the V5C and service records for each van together before we visit.
- We have a works van and a pickup from a small engineering firm at Heath Hill. Is two vehicles enough for an auction?
Two vehicles is a normal job. They go into the next online auction alongside vehicles from other sellers, with the same photographs and description as a fleet lot, and each is priced on its own. A racked works van is the kind of lot a sole trader or another engineering firm looks for, and a pickup with a tow bar is bought by builders and farmers, with Newport and Market Drayton in reach of a viewing day. We would usually collect both and sell them from our own premises rather than hold a viewing day at Heath Hill for two vehicles.
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.