Britannia AuctionsComplete site dispersal auctions in Milton Keynes
The grid roads are the first thing we notice about a site in Milton Keynes, because how the heavy lots leave is the usual first question on a dispersal. It is still answered unit by unit. At the first visit we record how a vehicle gets in and turns, the loading facilities, the door dimensions and the floor levels, whether the unit is on Magna Park, at Tongwell or on an older estate at Bletchley.
What is left is the plant. Motorsport and automotive engineering firms on Knowlhill and Kingston run five axis machining centres, dynamometers, autoclaves and inspection rooms. Electronics firms have assembly lines and test benches. The big sheds hold racking and handling kit by the acre. We catalogue the whole site, sell it in one online timed auction with a viewing day, and manage every buyer through an agreed collection window until the building is empty.
Race shop plant needs a catalogue that stands in for a visit
The machines in a motorsport supply unit are often modern and well kept, and the catalogue has to show it. Five axis machining centres, wire eroders, composite autoclaves and coordinate measuring machines are listed for the engineering trade at large rather than for race teams alone. Bidding is online and open nationally, and a buyer may never visit. We list the control, the year, the hours and the options, and photograph the tooling and fixtures that go with each machine. That detail is what a bidder at a desk two hundred miles away needs.
Electronics assembly plant behaves the same way. Pick and place machines, reflow ovens, inspection systems and test fixtures are listed for a national audience, and the bidding is open overseas too. Around all of it sits the ordinary stuff, benches, racking, compressors, the canteen and the offices, and Bedford, Northampton, Luton and Aylesbury are close enough to inspect the lots before the sale closes for it.
The sale works back from the lease end date
Most industrial space here is modern and let on terms that end on a fixed day, with the unit to go back clean. A dispersal is planned backwards from that day. We catalogue in the first week after instruction, open bidding for around two weeks with the viewing near the end, and set a collection window of one to two weeks. That leaves a few days for the floor to be cleared and the services isolated before the landlord's inspection. Six weeks from instruction is comfortable and four can work on a smaller unit, though the number of lots, the access and how quickly buyers pay all move it.
On the big sheds the racking comes down by the run once the forklifts have left. The Bletchley estates hold older units with a mix of trade and light manufacturing, and there a rigid lorry may be the largest vehicle that fits. We measure rather than assume, and we say which in the lot notes.
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 Milton Keynes
- The unit is on Knowlhill and our landlord wants it back in six weeks. Is that enough time?
Yes, for most sites. Six weeks allows a week to catalogue, two weeks of bidding with a viewing day, and a collection window of up to two weeks, with a few days spare for the final clear and hand back. The number of lots and the access move it. A site with several hundred lots and heavy machinery uses all of that. A smaller unit with light plant can be done faster. What helps most is instructing us early and stopping the site from changing once the inventory is taken.
- Our machines came with customer owned fixtures and tooling. What happens to those?
They go back to the customer before we list. At the first visit we ask you to mark anything that belongs to a customer or is held on loan, and we keep it out of the catalogue. It is common in motorsport supply work for a team to own the fixtures and drawings for its own parts. Everything you own, including general tooling, tool holders and spare fixtures, stays in the sale and sells with the machine it fits or as a separate lot.
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.