Britannia AuctionsLiquidation and insolvency asset sales in Manchester
Most insolvency instructions we take around Manchester come from the edge of the conurbation rather than the centre. A distribution operator in a shed off the M62, a food manufacturer in Trafford Park, a packaging firm in Openshaw or a recycling yard in Salford. Each brings its own problems for the office holder, and the biggest is usually that the premises contain a lot of things the company does not own.
We act for administrators, liquidators, lenders and landlords. We attend quickly, schedule everything with photographs, separate the company's assets from third party goods and give a written opinion of value. The sale is then an online timed auction with a viewing day at the site, or from our own premises if the site cannot be held. Use the contact form to describe the appointment and the premises.
Distribution sheds full of other people's goods
A logistics failure leaves the office holder with a shed that may hold pallets belonging to dozens of customers, racking that may belong to the landlord, forklifts that belong to a hire company and vehicles that belong to a finance house. The job in the first few days is to sort that out, and it is the part of the job that has to be right before anything is catalogued.
We walk the racking bay by bay and record what is there by customer and pallet count. Customer goods are held for release against proof of ownership. Hired forklifts are listed and reported so the hire company can collect. Vehicles on finance are checked with the lender before any decision on sale. What is left, the company's own racking, its pallet trucks, its packing benches and its office, goes into the catalogue. Bidding is open online to operators anywhere in the UK, and Bolton, Bury, Rochdale and the M62 corridor are close enough to come and look.
Recycling yards, balers and the plant that sits outside
Waste and recycling businesses fail with a yard full of plant that has been worked hard and stored outdoors. Balers, shredders, screens and loading shovels are catalogued on their condition, which has to be described honestly. Machines that can safely be run stay connected for the viewing day so they can be demonstrated, where that is agreed and someone competent is there to do it. Everything else is isolated and left safe, and the catalogue says which items were demonstrated.
There is also the question of the material on the ground. Baled card, plastics, cans or metal has a value and is often the easiest asset to turn into cash, but it may be subject to a customer's claim or a permit condition, so we ask the office holder to settle those points before anything moves. Loading shovels and skip lorries need a transporter or a driver with the right licence, and the room to load them is one of the things we check on our first visit. Older sites in Newton Heath can be tight, so collections are timed around the gate.
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 Manchester
- The shed holds pallets of stock belonging to the company's customers. What do you do with those?
We record them by customer and pallet count when we first visit and report the list to the office holder. Nothing is sold until ownership is settled. Customers who show proof of title collect against a receipt, in a slot we arrange so they do not clash with the viewing or the buyers' collection days. Stock that nobody claims by the deadline the office holder sets is added to the sale and the proceeds are accounted for separately.
- The landlord wants the racking left in the unit. Can it still be sold?
It depends on the lease and on who paid for it. Some leases treat racking as a landlord's fixture, and some landlords would rather keep it than take an empty shed back. We ask the office holder to check the lease at the outset. If the racking is the company's, we can offer it to the landlord first at a written valuation, and if they decline it goes into the auction with a removal deadline that fits the date the keys go back.
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.