Britannia AuctionsPlant and construction equipment auctions in Bradford
Bradford's old mills are coming down or being converted, and either way there is plant on site. Demolition contractors run excavators with breakers and shears, plus the screeners and crushers that turn a stone mill into hardcore. Conversion jobs bring in telehandlers, mini diggers, hoists and scaffolding. When the job finishes or the firm stops trading, that plant sits on a steep yard at the top of a narrow approach.
We sell it by online timed auction, either from the site where it stands or from our own premises when the yard is not a place to hold a viewing day. Bidding runs for a week or two and is open to bidders well beyond the area, with the West Yorkshire trade close enough to view in person.
Send a list through the contact form. Tell us about the access. It decides how we plan the sale.
Steep yards and where the lorry stops
Getting a low loader into a mill yard is the first question, and it is answered on site rather than from a map. Some of the older sites in Bradford have a steep approach or a gate with no room to turn. We look at the approach, the gate, the turning space, the hard standing and the road outside before the sale opens, then agree with you how each machine leaves: driven out, walked out to a loading point with ground protection down, or moved beforehand to our own premises and sold from there.
What is agreed goes into each lot, so the buyer knows what they are taking on before they bid rather than on collection day.
The estates near the M606, at Euroway and Staithgate Lane, are newer and flatter, and we check the route from those yards in exactly the same way.
Demolition plant and attachments as separate lots
A 30 tonne excavator with a shear and a pulveriser is set up for demolition and recycling rather than for general digging, and it is catalogued with that in mind. The auction is online and not limited to the area, so the sale is not limited to Yorkshire. We describe the base machine with its hours and year, and the attachments as separate lots with their own serial numbers, because a firm that already owns the machine may only want the shear.
Crushers and screeners are the same. A tracked crusher is worth cataloguing with its jaw size, its engine hours and the belt condition, and photographed with the jaw open. The hire and quarry trade in Halifax, Huddersfield, Keighley and Leeds is close enough to walk the lots on the viewing day, and the online catalogue carries the same lots to the rest of the trade.
Smaller plant from the conversion jobs, telehandlers, mini diggers, hoists and mixers, is lotted for the wider building trade in the district.
What these sales can include
- Excavators and mini diggers
- Dumpers and site dumpers
- Telehandlers
- Generators and lighting towers
- Compressors and breakers
- Rollers and compaction equipment
- Site cabins and welfare units
- Scaffolding and access equipment
- Concrete mixers and pumps
- Buckets, quick hitches and attachments
- Plant trailers
- Surveying equipment and small tools
- Fuel bowsers and tanks
How the auction works
Each machine is a lot with a full description, photographs and the hour reading. Bidding runs online for a set period, usually one to two weeks, and lots close in sequence. A bid in the last minutes extends the close for that lot.
Plant is offered as seen under the auction terms, and buyers are expected to inspect before bidding. The buyer pays the hammer price plus a buyer's premium, with VAT charged where it applies and shown separately on the invoice. Payment is required before removal.
Buyers arrange and pay for the removal of their lots within the agreed window. What that takes depends on the machine: wheeled plant with road registration can be driven away, and tracked or heavy machines go on a low loader. Nothing leaves the site until it is paid for and signed out.
The plant and construction equipment auctions page covers what buyers want to know, finance and ownership checks, where the sale runs from, reserves and the market, alternatives.
Questions about selling in Bradford
- The mill is in the middle of a conversion and the developer wants the compound gone. Can the sale happen while the fit out carries on?
Yes, as long as the compound can be kept separate from the working site for viewing day and collection. We agree with the site manager where buyers park and when the collection lorries come, so that the trades on site are not held up. If that cannot be done safely, we move the plant out to our own premises and sell it from there. The fit out carries on and the developer gets their compound back on the date agreed.
- Is there any point selling a screener that needs work?
Usually, yes. A screener with a worn belt or a tired engine is worth listing, at a lower figure, for a buyer who can do the work or who wants it for parts. We describe the faults plainly in the catalogue. Lots are offered as seen under the auction terms and buyers are expected to inspect before bidding, which is why an accurate description matters more than a flattering one. If the machine is only worth its weight we will say so and suggest a scrap buyer instead.
More questions about plant and construction
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Guides
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- Selling a commercial vehicle fleet
Fleet sales turn on paperwork as much as on price. This guide covers the V5C, MOT and plating documents, clearing finance before listing, keys and livery, recording mileage and tachograph data, and how to defleet in batches while still trading.