Liquidation and insolvency asset sales in Glasgow

Stainless Steel Tank in an Industrial Plant

Insolvency asset sales for businesses in Glasgow and the surrounding Greater Glasgow area, including Paisley, East Kilbride, Motherwell, Hamilton. We catalogue and sell on your premises, so nothing has to be moved before the sale.

If you are an administrator or liquidator, you need the assets identified, valued, secured and sold in a way that stands up to creditor scrutiny. If you are a director, you may be reading this because a formal process has begun and you want to know what happens next.

We sell business assets on instruction from the office holder, or from a lender or landlord with the right to take possession. The route is usually an online timed auction. Use the contact form to describe the appointment and the assets, and we will come back with a plan.

What these sales usually 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

Who instructs the sale

In a liquidation or administration the office holder controls the company's assets and instructs the sale. Directors cannot sell company assets once the appointment has been made, and we will not act on their instruction alone. Where a director contacts us before an appointment, we can talk through the position, and if a formal process follows, the office holder's team takes over from there.

Lenders with a fixed charge over equipment can instruct a sale of the assets they have taken possession of. So can a landlord who has taken control of goods for unpaid rent under commercial rent arrears recovery. In each case we need to see the appointment, the charge or the notice that gives the right to sell before we start work.

What an insolvency practitioner needs from us

An appointment brings a set of duties, and the auctioneer's job is to make them easier to discharge. In practice that means:

an asset schedule listing every item with description, serial number and location, prepared at the first visit
a written valuation giving forced sale and market values, for the statement of affairs and for creditor reporting
checks for retention of title claims on stock, and finance and HPI checks on vehicles and plant, so nothing is sold that the company does not own
a sale that is open to the market and properly advertised, so the price achieved can be shown to be the best reasonably obtainable
a reconciled sale account after the sale, with hammer prices, buyer's premium and VAT shown separately

We report at each stage. If a creditor questions the outcome, the file shows how the sale was run.

Securing the site

The days after an appointment are the risky period. Staff still have keys, stock walks out of the door and machines are stripped of tooling. We can attend the site at short notice, take a full inventory with photographs, and change the locks where the office holder asks for it.

Where the premises are leased, the landlord's position matters. A landlord may want the site back quickly, or may be looking to exercise their own rights over the goods. We work with the office holder's team to agree access for viewing and collection before the lease is disclaimed or the keys returned.

Items claimed under retention of title are set aside and not offered until the claim is resolved. Vehicles and plant subject to finance are held until the finance company confirms its position.

How the auction runs

Insolvency assets are sold by online timed auction in nearly every case. 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 sold as seen, with no warranty as to condition, which is standard for auction and expected by trade buyers.

Buyers pay the hammer price plus a buyer's premium, and VAT where the lot attracts it. Payment is taken before collection. Buyers remove their own lots during a fixed collection window. Anything that needs disconnection or lifting is handled by the buyer's rigger. Our staff supervise collection so the premises are protected and every removal is signed off.

Private treaty is used for individual assets where a known buyer will pay more than the auction is likely to, subject to the office holder's approval.

Timescales

An insolvency sale typically runs from first instruction to final collection in three to five weeks. The catalogue can go live within days of the site visit where the asset position is clear. The main variables are retention of title claims, finance on vehicles and plant, and the date by which the premises must be vacated.

Where a landlord or lender is pressing for possession, tell us at the outset. A shorter bidding period is possible, and collection can be compressed, at the cost of a smaller pool of bidders. We would rather run the sale properly and show a fair price than rush a sale that later has to be defended.

For directors

If your company is entering a formal process, the office holder will decide how the assets are sold. You can help by making the asset register, finance agreements and supplier terms available, and by telling the office holder about any assets held off site or on hire.

Do not sell or remove company assets after the appointment, or in the period before it when insolvency is likely. Transactions at undervalue and preferences can be reversed, and directors can be held personally liable for them. If you want to buy back equipment from the sale you can bid in the auction like any other buyer, on the same terms and in the open.

Businesses in Glasgow

Glasgow is the largest industrial market in Scotland. Engineering, fabrication and construction firms sit alongside food producers, packaging plants, vehicle workshops and distribution depots. Hillington Park, west of the city near junction 26 of the M8, is the biggest business park in Scotland and has a strong automotive and engineering presence. Queenslie, beside the M8 in the east of the city, is the largest estate inside the city boundary. Clydesmill at Cambuslang, off junction 2A of the M74, is a main distribution location. Further estates lie in Clydebank, Rutherglen and along the Clyde Gateway.

The M8, M74, M77 and M73 meet around the city and connect to Edinburgh, Carlisle and Ayrshire. The A82 runs north west. Glasgow Central and Queen Street stations carry the main rail services. Mossend has a rail freight terminal. Low loaders can reach the main estates from the motorway without passing through the centre.

We regularly handle insolvency asset sales in Glasgow and across Greater Glasgow. Sales are run on site, with viewing and collection at your premises, and the online catalogue reaches buyers well beyond the area.

Questions people ask

Can a director instruct the sale after the appointment?: No. Once an administrator or liquidator is appointed, the office holder controls the assets and only they can instruct a sale. We will speak to a director who contacts us before an appointment, but where a formal process follows, the instruction comes from the office holder and the proceeds are paid to the estate.
How do you deal with retention of title claims?: Stock supplied under retention of title terms belongs to the supplier until it is paid for. We identify stock that may be subject to a claim, set it aside and report it to the office holder. It is not offered for sale until the claim has been dealt with. Where a supplier collects their goods, we record what left the site.
What checks do you make on vehicles and plant?: Road registered vehicles are HPI checked for outstanding finance, theft markers and write off history. Plant is checked against the industry finance and theft registers. Where finance is found, the item is held until the finance company confirms whether it will repossess or allow the sale to proceed with settlement from the proceeds.
What reporting does the office holder receive?: An asset schedule and valuation at the start, a copy of the catalogue and advertising before the sale, and a reconciled sale account afterwards showing the hammer price for each lot, buyer's premium, VAT and our fees. Any unsold lots and their disposal are recorded. The file is kept for the office holder's records.
Can directors or employees bid in the sale?: Yes. The auction is open to the public, and a former director or employee can register and bid like anyone else. They pay the same buyer's premium and are subject to the same terms. Because the sale is open and advertised, a purchase by a connected party at auction is far easier to justify than a private deal.
What about assets held away from the premises?: Tell us where they are. Assets in storage, at a customer's site or in a vehicle parked at an employee's home are common. We can collect them for the sale, or list them for collection from where they stand if the occupier will allow access. Hired equipment belongs to the hire company and is returned to them.

All questions people ask

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 and HPI checks, site security, health and safety during the sale, and the reconciliation you need for the file.