Britannia AuctionsLiquidation and insolvency asset sales in Peterborough
Two kinds of appointment are common in Peterborough. The first is an agricultural machinery dealer on the edge of the city or out towards Wisbech, with new machines on the manufacturer's stocking finance, used machines taken in part exchange, a parts store and customers' tractors in the workshop. The second is an engineering or print firm on Fengate or at Orton Southgate with a lease, a floor of machines, a stockroom and a landlord counting the days.
We act for administrators, liquidators, lenders and landlords on both. Each job starts with a site visit, a schedule with serial numbers and photographs, and a written opinion of value that separates what the company owns from what is financed or held for someone else. Sales run as online timed auctions with a viewing day. The catalogue is online and open UK wide, and the farming trade across the Fens and the engineering trade at Stamford, Huntingdon and Corby are near enough to attend the viewing day. Use the contact form to describe the appointment.
Stocking finance, part exchanges and customers' tractors in the workshop
A machinery dealer's yard is mostly not the dealer's to sell. New tractors, combines and implements are usually on a stocking plan and belong to the funder until the agreement is settled. Customers' machines are in for service or repair. What the company owns outright is the used stock taken in part exchange, the parts store, the workshop equipment and the demonstrators that have been paid off. We sort the yard into those groups on the first day, photograph every serial plate, and send each funder a list of its machines.
What used farm machinery makes depends on its condition, its hours, the specification and the time of year as much as on the auction itself. Farmers and contractors across the Fens and Lincolnshire are within reach of a viewing day, and dealers elsewhere in the UK bid online. The farming calendar is one of the things we weigh when we propose a sale date, and where the office holder can wait we set out what the choice depends on.
Presses and finishing lines from a print works with a lease running out
Printing and packaging firms in the city tend to fail with a unit full of heavy, bolted down plant and a lease that ends soon. Sheet fed and web presses, guillotines, folders, die cutters, laminators and the paper stock in the racks all have buyers, but a press needs specialist removal, a method statement and a buyer who can plan it. We describe each press with its serial number, impression count where the counter shows it and a note on how it leaves the building, so bidders know what they are pricing.
Smaller finishing kit, computer to plate equipment and office contents can come to our own premises and be sold there if the landlord wants the unit back early. The presses stay in situ with a fixed removal date agreed with the landlord. At Fengate and Orton we check the vehicle route, the yard and the loading door at the site visit and put the findings in the catalogue, and the A1(M) is close for buyers taking a press north or south.
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 Peterborough
- The dealership's new machines are on the manufacturer's stocking plan. Do we need to do anything with them?
Tell the funder where they are and keep them secure. The machines belong to the funder until the agreement is settled and can only be sold with its agreement, and where it agrees they can go into the same auction, with the settlement paid from the proceeds. We list every new machine with its serial number and location when we first visit and send that list to each funder named in the finance schedule. Machines that cannot be matched to an agreement are held apart until the position is clear.
- Farmers around Peterborough are busy from July to September. Does that affect the sale?
The farming calendar is one of the factors in the timetable. Harvest is the busiest part of the year, and a viewing day in the middle of it competes with the fields. Where the office holder can move the date, we set out what the choice depends on. Where it cannot move, the catalogue is written for bidders who cannot attend, with full photographs, hours and condition notes so a dealer or contractor anywhere can bid online.
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.