Britannia AuctionsLiquidation and insolvency asset sales in Derby
Derby's machining and fabrication firms live and die by programmes at the aerospace and rail primes around them. When a programme ends or a prime moves work elsewhere, subcontractors on Ascot Drive, at Sinfin or on Raynesway can fail with a great deal of plant on finance, customer owned fixtures on the machines, free issue material in the stores that was never theirs and quality records that matter to all of it.
We sell on the instruction of the administrator or liquidator, or of a lender or landlord entitled to possession. Our first visit produces a schedule of every machine with serial number and photographs, a list of the finance and lease agreements found in the office, a note of which fixtures and material are marked as customer property and a written opinion of value. Use the contact form to describe the appointment.
Subcontract machining shops and free issue material
A precision shop working for the aerospace supply chain holds a lot that does not belong to it. Free issue material, forgings and castings sent by the customer to be machined, is customer property and has to be identified and returned. So are the fixtures and gauges built to the customer's drawings. We take the stores and the shop floor bay by bay, match what we find to the works orders and the goods inwards book, and give the office holder a list of customer property separate from the schedule of company assets.
The company's own machines are where the value sits. Five axis machining centres, turning centres, grinders and EDM machines from a Derby shop are catalogued for engineering buyers across the UK and abroad, and the firms at Burton upon Trent, Nottingham, Ilkeston and in the wider East Midlands that supply the same primes are able to get to a viewing day without a long trip. The catalogue lists control, year, spindle hours where recorded and the tooling included.
Lenders, finance and the machines that carry it
Machine tools in Derby are often bought on hire purchase or lease. A machine on such an agreement stays with the funder until the agreement is settled, and a single shop may have agreements with several of them. Nothing is offered without the funder's agreement. With the office holder's agreement we contact each funder and send our valuation and photographs with a proposed route. Where a funder agrees to a sale, the machine is catalogued with a note of its interest and the settlement figure is usually paid from the proceeds.
Where a funder would rather repossess, the machine is released to their agent in a booked slot and recorded. Where the finance is settled from the sale, that item is accounted for separately so the office holder's reports show it. Access on the southern estates is checked when we walk the site, and the route out for each large machine is recorded in the catalogue so the buyer can arrange removal within the collection window.
What these sales can include
- Machine tools and production lines
- Finished stock and work in progress
- Raw materials and components
- Commercial vehicles and vans
- Plant and site equipment
- Forklift trucks and pallet trucks
- Racking and warehouse fittings
- Office furniture and IT equipment
- Catering and bar equipment
- Fixtures and fittings
- Tooling, spares and consumables
- Shop fittings and displays
How the auction runs
Insolvency assets are usually sold by online timed auction. The catalogue is photographed on site, listed with estimates and opened for bidding for a period agreed with the office holder, usually one to two weeks. A viewing day is held at the premises. Lots are offered as seen under the auction terms, and buyers are expected to inspect before bidding.
Buyers pay the hammer price plus a buyer's premium, with VAT charged where it applies and shown separately on the invoice. Payment is taken before collection. Buyers arrange and pay for the removal of their lots during an agreed collection window, using specialist movers where the weight and dimensions call for them. Our staff supervise collection so the premises are protected and every removal is signed off.
Private treaty is used for individual assets where a direct sale may produce more than the auction, subject to the office holder's approval.
The liquidation and insolvency asset sales page covers who instructs the sale, what an insolvency practitioner needs from us, securing the site, timescales, for directors.
Questions about selling in Derby
- Most of the CNC machines are on hire purchase with different lenders. Can they all go in the same auction?
They can, where each funder agrees. We list every agreement found in the company's records, and each funder is contacted with the office holder's agreement and receives our valuation. Where a funder agrees to the sale, the machine is included with a note of its interest, and the settlement figure is usually paid from the proceeds before the balance is accounted to the estate. Where a funder would rather repossess, it collects in a booked slot. Either way the office holder sees one catalogue and one report.
- What happens to the calibration and quality records in the inspection room?
They belong to the company, so the office holder controls them, and they are worth keeping close to the equipment. A coordinate measuring machine or a set of gauges with a current calibration certificate is worth more to a buyer who supplies the same primes than one without, so we photograph the labels and offer the paperwork with the lot where the office holder agrees. Records the office holder must retain are copied for the buyer and the originals stay in the file.
More questions about insolvency asset sales
Related services
Guides
- 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.