Britannia AuctionsComplete site dispersal auctions in Southampton
Most of the sites we clear around Southampton are working for the port in one way or another. A freight forwarder at Nursling gives up its lease and leaves a shed full of racking, forklifts, dock levellers and a yard of trailers. A marine engineer on the Itchen retires and the workshop holds lathes, welding plant, a slipway winch and years of accumulated spares. Both are site dispersals, and both need the same thing, which is a full catalogue, one sale date and a plan for getting the building empty.
We list everything on the site, from the main plant down to the contents of the stores, and sell it in one online timed auction with a viewing day before the close. Buyers pay us and collect in an agreed window. You get one account at the end, and the timetable is built around the day the keys go back.
Sheds, workshops and the order they are cleared in
A distribution shed at Nursling or Adanac Park is mostly racking, handling kit and offices. Pallet racking is lotted by the bay and dismantled by the buyer, and a large run comes down quickly once the forklifts have left. Reach trucks, counterbalance trucks, pallet trucks and dock equipment suit other operators on the same estate and hauliers in Totton and Eastleigh, who are within a comfortable drive of the viewing day. Trailers and rigid vehicles are listed for the same trade.
A marine or aerospace workshop on the Solent Industrial Estate or up the Eastleigh corridor is a slower job. Machine tools need a rigger, and the stores need sorting into lots that a buyer can price. Test and inspection equipment wants photographing properly, because it may be bought by someone who never visits. We agree the collection window around the heavy lots and usually let the small ones go first.
Marine, engineering and handling lots in one catalogue
Boatbuilders and marine engineers along Southampton Water and across in Fareham and Portsmouth are within a comfortable drive of the viewing day, as are engineering firms in Romsey, Winchester, Hedge End and Lyndhurst. Welding plant, bandsaws and machine tools are lotted for them, and the handling kit for the distribution trade. Bids are placed online and the sale is open to buyers anywhere in the UK and overseas, with the port on the doorstep where a lot has to travel further.
The M271 puts a loaded wagon on the M27 from the Nursling side, Millbrook Trading Estate next to the container terminal is busier with port traffic, and the older waterside workshops on the Itchen vary. We walk the route out and measure the access, the door openings and the floor levels before we list a heavy lot.
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 Southampton
- Our depot lease at Nursling ends on a quarter day. Can the site be clear by then?
Usually, if we have five or six weeks, depending on how many lots there are and the access. We catalogue in the first week, run bidding for around two weeks and give buyers a collection window of one to two weeks after that. Working back from a quarter day, instruction around six weeks before it leaves a margin for the racking to come down and the yard to be swept. If the date is closer than that we can still run a sale, but the collection window gets tighter and we tell you what that does to the plan.
- The workshop is on the water and the only way in is a narrow lane. Will buyers still bid for the heavy machines?
They will, but they price the removal in. We describe the access in the lot notes, with photographs of the lane and the door, and give the weight and footprint of each machine. A buyer's rigger can quote for the lift before the sale closes. Where a machine could go out by water rather than road, we say so. Bids reflect the cost of getting a machine out, which is better than a surprise on collection day.
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.