Britannia AuctionsLiquidation and insolvency asset sales in Swindon
The M4 gives Swindon a mix of businesses that fail in different ways. An electronics assembler at Groundwell or Kembrey Park leaves a surface mount line, reels of components by the thousand and finished boards built for one customer. A pharmaceutical or laboratory supplier leaves temperature controlled stock that only a licensed buyer can take. A distribution firm at Blagrove or near junction 16 leaves a shed of racking, forklifts and a fleet on finance.
We act for administrators, liquidators, lenders and landlords on all of them. The first visit produces a schedule with photographs and serial numbers, a written opinion of value and a list of finance, customer property and stock that needs a licence to sell. Sales are online timed auctions, in situ where the site can take buyers, which we check when we walk the site. Bids are placed online and the sale is open to the UK trade, and Chippenham, Cirencester, Marlborough and Wantage are close enough to view in person. Use the contact form to describe the appointment.
Pick and place lines, reflow ovens and component reels by the thousand
Electronics assembly plant is catalogued for a national audience. Pick and place machines, screen printers, reflow ovens, wave solder machines, automated optical inspection, test fixtures and rework stations are of interest to contract manufacturers across the UK, most of whom bid online from the catalogue without a visit. We photograph each machine with its serial plate, note the software version and the feeder count, and describe the condition plainly.
Components are the harder part. A stores of reels, trays and tubes may run to thousands of lines, most of them bought for a specific customer's product, some of them the customer's own free issue stock. We take the stores data from the company's system, mark the free issue lines for release, and lot the rest by family for brokers and other assemblers. Finished and part built boards belong to whoever the contract says, and the office holder may be able to sell them to the customer by private treaty. Data on test computers is wiped before sale.
Temperature controlled stock and who is allowed to buy it
Pharmaceutical and laboratory stock cannot be sold to whoever bids most. Medicines, controlled substances, reagents and some laboratory consumables can only be sold to a buyer holding the right licence, and some cannot be sold at all once the company's own licence has lapsed. We identify that stock when we walk the site, keep the cold chain running with the office holder's agreement and give a written view on what can be offered and to whom. The office holder takes the regulatory advice. We run the sale within it.
The equipment is simpler. Fridges, freezers, incubators, fume cupboards, analysers, balances and clean room fittings sell to laboratories and pharmaceutical firms across the UK by online auction. On the distribution side of the town the job is racking, forklifts, dock equipment and vehicles, sold in situ where the yard and the loading doors allow it, with junctions 15 and 16 close by.
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 Swindon
- The stores are full of components bought for one customer. Are they worth anything?
Some are. Common parts such as passives, connectors and standard semiconductors are lotted for brokers and other assemblers. Custom parts, programmed devices and printed boards built for one product are worth little to anyone but that customer, and the office holder may recover more by offering them to the customer directly. We take the stores data at the site visit, split the lines into those groups and give the office holder a written view on each, so the decision is made on figures.
- Some of the stock is medicine. Can it go in the auction?
Not as an open lot. Medicines and other licensed products can only pass to a buyer who holds the appropriate licence, and the office holder should take regulatory advice on the company's position before any sale. Our part is to identify and secure that stock, keep it at the right temperature, and once the office holder instructs, offer it to licensed buyers only, by private treaty or by a restricted auction. Stock that cannot be sold is destroyed by an approved contractor with a certificate.
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.