Britannia AuctionsComplete site dispersal auctions in Telford
Telford was built to hold factories, and when one closes the site dispersal is a factory sized job. An injection moulder on Hortonwood leaves a hall of presses from fifty to a thousand tonnes, with robots, dryers, granulators, chillers and a tool store full of moulds. An automotive component maker on Stafford Park leaves machining cells, assembly lines and test rigs built around one customer's parts. A food processor at Halesfield leaves stainless lines and cold stores. Each is a full building of plant with a clear out date attached.
We take the whole site as one instruction. The catalogue lists everything from the largest press to the last rack in the stores. The auction runs online for around two weeks with a viewing day at the site, buyers collect in an agreed window, and we account to you once the sale is reconciled.
Presses sell by tonnage, moulds go back first
Injection moulding presses are judged on tonnage, age, control and shot weight, so that is what the catalogue gives, and online bidding opens the sale to moulders across the UK and to dealers who export. Ancillaries, robots, hopper loaders, dryers and temperature controllers, are lotted with the press they served or on their own, whichever brings more. The tool store is the part that needs sorting before anything is listed. Most moulds belong to the customers whose parts they make, and those go back before the viewing. Moulds you own are listed with the material, the drawings, the setting sheet and the last sample where you have them.
Automotive component plants are similar, in that fixtures and gauges built for one customer's part often belong to that customer. General machine tools, presses, welding cells and inspection equipment from those sites are lotted for engineering firms in Wolverhampton, Shrewsbury, Stafford and Bridgnorth, all close enough to come and look.
Finding the unit and planning the route out
Every unit on the three main estates has a phase number and an address a haulier can find, and the roads were laid out for lorries from the start. Stafford Park sits minutes from junction 4 of the M54, with Hortonwood and Halesfield reaching it by the A442. What each unit takes is still measured on our first visit, and at the smaller units at Tweedale and Heath Hill we note where a rigid lorry is the largest vehicle that fits.
Collection runs in an order agreed with you. Heavy presses and machining centres are usually lifted early, by the buyer's rigger and at the buyer's cost, to a method statement agreed before the day, with electrical disconnection by qualified people. Then the ancillaries and racking. Van lots go last. Overhead cranes, where a site has them, are usually agreed as the final lots, so they are available while the heavy machines come out.
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 Telford
- Our biggest presses are bolted to deep foundations. Does that put buyers off?
Not if they know about it in advance. We record how each press is fixed, whether it stands on a plinth or a pit, and how it came into the building, and we put that in the lot notes with the weight. Buyers' riggers quote on that basis before the sale closes, so the cost is in the bid rather than a surprise on the day. Making good the foundations afterwards is usually between you and the landlord, and we can suggest contractors.
- We hold raw material and packaging bought for orders that will not run. Should that go in the sale?
Yes, in its own section of the same auction. Polymer granules, masterbatch, steel bar, packaging and consumables sell by the pallet or by the bag to other moulders and engineers, and they are listed apart from the machinery so the right bidders find them. Anything a customer has paid for goes back to them, and material supplied under retention of title is checked before we list. Offering the stock clears the stores, which has to be empty anyway.
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.