Britannia AuctionsLiquidation and insolvency asset sales in Norwich
Norfolk's businesses are spread out, and so are the appointments. A food or drink producer on a business park by the airport or on Vulcan Road, an agricultural machinery dealer in a village off the A47, a packaging firm at Rackheath, an engineering workshop on a farm with a lane that a lorry cannot turn in. The office holder needs to know early where access is going to be a problem.
We take instructions from administrators, liquidators, lenders and landlords across the county. The first visit produces a schedule with photographs and serial numbers, a written opinion of value and a list of finance, hire and third party stock. The sale is an online timed auction, run on site where the site can take buyers and from our own premises where it cannot. Bidding runs online and is open to the UK trade, and Great Yarmouth, Dereham, Wymondham and Diss are close enough to come and look. Use the contact form to describe the appointment.
Food and drink lines sold with the chillers still running
Plant that is still running can be demonstrated, which is harder once it has been switched off. Chillers and freezers holding stock, packing lines, fillers, ovens, mixers, stainless tables and the cold rooms themselves are easier to catalogue clean and working than after a fortnight standing idle. We ask the office holder on the first day to keep the power on and the cleaning schedule going. Machines that can safely be run stay connected for the viewing day so they can be demonstrated where that is agreed, and everything else is isolated and left safe.
Stock is the urgent part. Chilled and frozen product has a date, and a formal process may already have stopped the deliveries that would have used it. We count it when we first visit and give the office holder a view on whether it is worth selling to a wholesaler in one lot, returning to a supplier under a retention of title claim, or disposing of. The plant is then catalogued for food firms in Norfolk and, online, anywhere in the UK.
Village workshops beyond the ring road and the lorry that fits
Many Norfolk businesses fail on sites that were never built for an auction. A machinery dealer's yard in a village, an engineering shop in a converted barn, a joinery workshop on a farm track. The buyers exist, but a viewing day with forty vans on a lane that meets the A47 at a blind junction is not something we would run.
We check the access when we walk the site and put it in the report. Where the lane and the yard take a rigid lorry, the lots can be collected and sold from our own premises with a proper viewing. Where heavy plant cannot leave without a crane, it stays where it is and is sold subject to a method statement with a fixed removal date. Farm machinery is different again. Tractors and implements can often be driven out and sold in situ, which suits sites of this kind.
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 Norwich
- The chilled stock will not last until an auction closes. What happens to it?
We deal with it at once, separately from the auction. On the first visit we count the stock, check the dates and look at the supplier terms, then give the office holder a written view on each line. Product with a few weeks on it can be sold to a wholesaler or a food processor in one lot by private treaty. Product on retention of title terms goes back to the supplier against a receipt. Product past use is disposed of with a record. The plant is sold at auction afterwards.
- The business is on a farm with a single track lane. Can you collect from there?
Yes, with the right vehicle. Our first visit includes a look at the lane, the gateway and the yard, and we send a rigid lorry or a van rather than an articulated lorry where the access requires it. The items are scheduled and photographed before they move and sold from our own premises. Tractors and implements are often driven or towed out by buyers, which suits sites like this and saves the cost of a transporter.
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.