Britannia AuctionsLiquidation and insolvency asset sales in Leeds
The instructions we take in Leeds tend to split two ways. On one side are the printers, packaging firms, food producers and trade counters in Hunslet and Stourton, where the assets are in one building and the job is to count them before they leave. On the other are construction and groundworks contractors whose plant is spread across live sites in West Yorkshire and beyond, mixed in with hired kit and other people's materials.
We deal with both on the instruction of the office holder, a lender or a landlord. A site visit, a schedule with photographs and serial numbers, a written view on value and a sale plan that fits the office holder's timetable. Sales close by online timed auction on a timetable set by the number of lots, the access and the lease, with a viewing day at the premises and our staff attending collection. Tell us about the appointment through the contact form.
Printers, trade counters and stock that must be counted fast
A print or packaging business fails with presses, guillotines, folders and finishing equipment that are often on finance, plus paper and board stock that a supplier may claim under retention of title. A trade counter fails with shelves of fast moving stock that staff and customers both know the value of. In each case the first day matters. We attend and schedule everything with photographs, and where the office holder wants it we change the locks and put a person on site until the catalogue is live.
Print machinery is checked against the finance schedule, and because a financed machine belongs to the funder until the agreement is settled, the funder is contacted with the office holder's agreement before it is listed. Paper stock is lotted by size and grammage. Trade counter stock is sold in bundles that a buyer can load into a van. The southern estates sit within minutes of the M621 and M1, and Wakefield, Castleford, Dewsbury and Bradford are near enough to attend the viewing day. Bidding is online, so the catalogue is open to the print and building trades across the UK.
Construction plant scattered across sites in Yorkshire
An insolvent contractor rarely has its plant at home. Excavators, dumpers, compaction plant, site cabins and welfare units will be on jobs from Harrogate to Huddersfield, and some of it will not be the company's at all. Cross hired plant from other contractors and hire company equipment is mixed in with owned machines.
We start with the plant register and the hire invoices, then visit each site with the office holder's authority to identify and tag what is the company's, with photographs. Hired items are reported so the owners can collect. Owned plant is either sold in place, with the buyer collecting from the site by low loader in an agreed window, or brought back to a single yard for the viewing. Main contractors sometimes want to buy the plant on their own job so the works continue, and we handle that as a priced offer to the office holder alongside the auction.
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 Leeds
- Some of the plant on site is cross hired from other contractors. How do you tell it apart?
From the paperwork first and the machines second. The company's plant register, its hire invoices, its purchase records and the fleet numbers or asset tags on each item usually settle most of it, and hire companies are quick to identify their own kit once they hear of the appointment. Anything left in doubt is photographed with its serial plate and reported to the office holder as unresolved. Nothing is catalogued until title is clear, and hired items are held on site for the owner to collect.
- The administrator wants to keep the print room trading for a few weeks. Can the sale still be prepared?
Yes, and it is a common arrangement. We schedule and photograph the equipment while it is still running. We agree with the administrator which machines are needed to finish the open jobs and which can be listed straight away, then set the auction to close once trading stops. Paper stock is counted at the end rather than the start so the figures are right. The viewing day is fixed for after the last shift, and collection follows within the window the landlord allows.
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.