Britannia AuctionsComplete site dispersal auctions in Birmingham
When a Birmingham pressings shop or component maker closes, the site is usually full of heavy iron. Power presses bolted to the floor, a press brake and a guillotine along one wall, a plating or powder coating line with its tanks and extraction, an overhead crane, and a stores area with decades of tooling and dies. The forklift is outside and the offices are upstairs.
A site dispersal sells all of it in one online timed auction. We catalogue on site, run the viewing, and then attend through the agreed collection window while the buyers' riggers and van drivers clear the building. You get an empty unit and one account at the end.
The hard part in Birmingham is often not the selling. It is getting a fifty tonne press out of an inner city unit with a narrow road and no yard. That is where the planning goes.
Heavy plant on tight inner city estates
A lot of the city's older engineering sits in Tyseley, Witton, Aston and Saltley, on estates laid out long before articulated lorries were the norm. Roads are narrow, yards are short, and some units have a shared access. Selling a press in that setting is straightforward. Removing it is the job.
We walk the route out before the catalogue goes live, recording how a vehicle gets in and turns, the loading facilities, the door dimensions, the floor levels and any shared yard. If a low loader cannot turn into the road, the lot notes say so, and the buyer's rigger plans a crane lift to a smaller vehicle or a skate move to the kerb. Where a machine will need the wall opened up or the floor cut, we say that in the listing so nobody bids without knowing.
Out at Minworth, Kings Norton or the newer parks near junction 6 of the M42 the buildings are newer, but the same checks are made and the findings still set the plan. Same auction, a different removal plan.
Lotting the pressings, the tooling and the food plant
The West Midlands supply chain sits around a Birmingham dispersal. Pressings, machining and finishing shops in Walsall, Dudley, West Bromwich and Redditch run the kind of plant a closing works holds, and they are near enough to come and see the lots, as are the automotive suppliers at Coventry and Solihull. Bidding itself is online and open to buyers from every part of the UK.
Tooling is worth thinking about separately. Dies and press tools that only fit a customer's part rarely have value beyond scrap, but general purpose tooling, tool holders and measuring equipment are worth lotting in sensible groups so a buyer can price them. We sort it with you rather than guess.
Food manufacturers near the airport sheds are a different sale again. Stainless steel tables, process vessels, packing lines and chilled storage are catalogued for a national audience, and most of it is sized for a van or a curtain sider rather than a crane.
What these sales can include
- Complete production lines
- CNC lathes and machining centres
- Presses, guillotines and folders
- Overhead cranes and hoists
- Compressors and air receivers
- Forklift trucks
- Racking and storage systems
- Tooling, spares and consumables
- Inspection and test equipment
- Welding and fabrication equipment
- Office furniture and IT equipment
- Canteen and welfare equipment
- Vehicles and trailers
The auction
The sale runs as an online timed auction, open for bidding for a fixed period with a viewing day at the site before the close. Lots close in sequence, and a late bid extends the closing time for that lot so nobody is beaten by the clock. Bidders register online, and the sale is advertised to the trade for that type of equipment.
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 invoice. Once paid, the buyer collects within the agreed window. Our staff are on site throughout collection to check off each lot and control access.
For very large sites the sale may be split into two or more auctions, so the building empties in stages and production can continue in one area while another is cleared.
The complete site dispersal auctions page covers what a site dispersal involves, preparing the site, removal and heavy lifting, timescales and what to expect.
Questions about selling in Birmingham
- Our unit in Aston has no yard and a shared access road. Can you still run a full dispersal?
Yes. We look at the access before we list anything. Where a low loader cannot get to the door, we note it in the catalogue and the buyer's rigger works to a method statement we approve, usually a crane lift or a skate move to a vehicle parked on the road. Collection is booked in slots so the shared access is not blocked for the neighbours. Buyers arrange and pay for removal, and we agree the window and the order with you, attend and let lots go only when they have been paid for.
- We are folding this site into our other factory. Can we keep some machines out of the sale?
Yes. Tell us which items are moving to the other site before we catalogue, and we tag them as not for sale. The one thing we ask is that the decision is made before the viewing rather than after, because buyers bid on what they saw. If you are unsure about a machine, we can give you a view on what it would fetch so you can weigh that against the cost of moving it.
More questions about site dispersals
Related services
Guides
- Auction or private treaty: which route to choose
Auction gives you a fixed date and an open market. Private treaty gives you a negotiated price and privacy. This guide sets out when each route suits, what you give up with each, and why many sales use both.
- Closing a business: a timeline for selling the assets
Work backwards from the day you hand the site over. This guide covers lease end and dilapidations, when to instruct, when staff should leave, when to keep the power on, and how to leave enough room for collection and making good.
- What insolvency practitioners need from an auctioneer
For office holders realising physical assets. Covers the instruction letter, the asset schedule and valuation basis, retention of title, finance checks, site security, health and safety during the sale, and the reconciliation you need for the file.