Britannia AuctionsComplete site dispersal auctions in Sheffield
A site dispersal in Sheffield tends to be heavy. The Lower Don Valley is still full of forging, heat treatment, tooling and precision engineering firms, and when one closes, the building holds machines that weigh more than the offices they sit next to. Forging hammers and presses. Furnaces. Large bore lathes and horizontal borers. Overhead cranes rated in tens of tonnes.
Selling that kind of site is a different job from clearing a light assembly unit. The catalogue has to describe machines properly, the viewing has to show the machines that can safely be run under power, and the removal has to be planned before the first bid is placed.
We run the whole site as one online timed auction and stay on site through collection. Attercliffe, Tinsley, Darnall and the Parkway estates all differ, and we check the route out unit by unit.
Machines that need a rigger before they need a buyer
Start with the removal plan, not the catalogue. On a Sheffield engineering site the question that matters most is how each machine leaves the building. A CNC machining centre on a level floor near a roller shutter is a straightforward lift. A press on a pit, a furnace with a refractory lining or a borer with a bed longer than the door opening is a rigging job, and buyers price that into their bids.
We go round the site with that in mind. Each heavy lot gets a note on weight, foundations, services and route out. Where a machine sits on a pit or is built into the floor, we say so. Buyers arrange and pay for the lift and the transport, working to a method statement agreed before the day, and disconnection of power and gas is by qualified people.
The overhead crane is usually offered too, and it is normally agreed as the last lot to leave so that it is available while the large machines come out.
Local trade, the stores and the route to the M1
Toolmakers, machining shops and fabricators in Rotherham, Barnsley, Chesterfield, Worksop and Dronfield run the same machines and are within a comfortable drive of the viewing day, with a wagon down the Parkway a short run. The aerospace and materials firms around the Advanced Manufacturing Park at Waverley are close by, and inspection equipment and modern CNC plant are listed with the detail they ask for. Bidding itself is online and open to bidders anywhere in the UK.
The stores are worth care. Sheffield works often carry a large stock of tooling, inserts, bar and forgings. We sort it into lots that a buyer can price, so a shelf of carbide inserts sells as one entry and the bar stock sells by the rack.
With the M1 at junctions 33 and 34, a loaded low loader reaches the motorway quickly, and a short road out is one of the factors in a rigging quote.
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 Sheffield
- Some of our machines sit on pits and foundations. Who makes good the floor after removal?
The buyer's rigger removes the machine and is responsible for leaving the area safe, but making good the floor to the landlord's standard is normally a separate matter between you and the landlord. We flag pits and foundations in the catalogue so buyers know what they are taking on, and we can arrange for pits to be fenced or plated during the collection window. If the lease requires the pits to be filled, that is usually best planned as a final job after the last machine has gone.
- The furnaces and heat treatment plant are old. Is it worth including them in the sale?
Usually yes. Even where a furnace has no value as a working unit, the control gear, the burners and the structure may have, and a buyer may want the whole thing for parts. We would catalogue everything on the site, because an unsold lot costs nothing and a scrapped one might have sold. Where a lot does not sell we deal with it at the end, and you are not left with 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.