Britannia AuctionsLiquidation and insolvency asset sales in Swansea
Not every insolvency is a factory. Many of the appointments we take in Swansea are over small companies, a fabricator with one unit at Llansamlet, a plant hire firm with a yard at Fforestfach, a trade supplier with a counter, a van and a stockroom, a printer with two presses. The office holder needs the same things from us on a small job as on a large one, a schedule, a valuation, a secure site and a sale that can be reported.
One person deals with the office holder from the first call. Where the unit has to be handed back quickly, we collect the assets and sell them from our own premises, so the landlord gets the keys and the sale runs on its own timetable. Larger sites are sold in situ by online timed auction with a viewing day. Online bidding is open to the whole UK trade, with Neath, Llanelli, Bridgend and Port Talbot inside easy travelling distance of a viewing. Use the contact form to describe the appointment.
One workshop, one van and a stockroom
A small company's assets are still worth selling properly. A fabricator's unit holds welding sets, a guillotine, a press brake, a fork truck, hand tools and a van, and each of those goes into the catalogue on its own merits. Every item is scheduled with a photograph and serial number, the van is checked for finance, and the office holder gets a written opinion of value without waiting.
The question on a small job is where to sell from. If the lease has months to run and the landlord is patient, an auction from the unit with a viewing day works well, and the office holder saves the cost of moving anything. If the landlord wants the unit back, or the site cannot be secured, we collect everything on one day and sell it from our own premises alongside other lots. The office holder gets the same schedule and the same report either way.
Metal processing plant from the larger fabrication sites
The larger jobs come from the metals and fabrication trades that spread between the city and Port Talbot. Steel stockholders, galvanisers, profile cutters and heavy fabricators fail with overhead cranes, plate rolls, press brakes, laser and plasma tables and bar stock, and with the yard plant that moved it all. This equipment is usually sold in situ. Access at the Enterprise Park and the Fforestfach estates is checked like anywhere else, the vehicle route, the turning space, the yard and the lifting each item needs, and junctions 44, 45 and 47 of the M4 are close for buyers arranging transport.
Buyers for heavy metalworking plant are engineering firms in South Wales and the rest of the UK, and the online catalogue reaches both. Overhead cranes and anything bolted to a foundation are described with their removal requirements and sold subject to a method statement. Steel stock is lotted by grade and section for engineering buyers where the certificates exist, and weighed for a merchant where they do not.
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 Swansea
- The estate is small. Is it worth an auctioneer's time?
Yes. We take any job, big or small, and the process scales down without losing what the office holder needs. A single visit produces the schedule and the valuation. The assets are collected and sold from our own premises with other lots, so the cost of a viewing day and a site sale is avoided. The report and the settlement are the same as on a large job. Small estates are often where a quick, clean sale matters most to creditors.
- The unit is on the Enterprise Park and the landlord wants it back at the end of the month. Is that possible?
Often. How long collection takes is set by the size of the catalogue and the access, and where the unit can be cleared quickly the lots are sold from our own premises so the keys go back on the date. If heavy plant has to stay where it is, we speak to the landlord about a short period of access for viewing and collection, which a landlord may accept once the sale date is fixed.
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.