Britannia AuctionsPrivate treaty sales in Reading
Reading's most valuable single assets are often not in factories. Standby generators and switchgear in the plant rooms of the office parks at Green Park and Thames Valley Park, test and laboratory equipment from the technology firms, the late model plant in the hire yards around Theale, and the machining centres in the workshops off Portman Road. When a building is refitted or a lab is closed, those items come to market one at a time, and each suits a quiet approach to the buyers who use that kit rather than a catalogue alongside a van and some racking.
Private treaty is how we handle that. We inspect the asset, market it directly to the buyers who use it, put every offer to you in writing and agree the price with you. Our fee is agreed in writing before marketing starts.
Plant room kit and lab equipment from the business parks
A standby generator set from an office building is often a few years old with a few hundred hours on it, sold because the building is being refitted or the tenant has gone. Together with the switchgear, the transfer switches, the controls and the fuel system it is a single asset of a type used by hire fleets, contractors, data facilities and other building owners across the UK, and it suits a negotiated sale. Expect questions on the hours, the load test records, the service history and the fuel polishing log, and the description answers those before they are asked.
Test and laboratory equipment from the technology firms goes to a different list of universities, contract labs, research firms and specialist dealers, and calibration history is everything. The engineering workshops on Battle Farm and Robert Cort add machining centres and fabrication plant with a market among subcontractors in Basingstoke, Newbury, Bracknell and Slough.
Where more than one buyer is serious we run sealed bids with a closing date.
Getting a generator out of a plant room
A generator in a basement plant room or on a roof is a removal problem before it is a sale. The unit went in through an opening that was bricked up afterwards, or by crane before the roof went on, and getting it out means a crane on an office park road, a road closure permit, a weekend when the building is empty and a landlord who agrees to all of it.
So we settle the route first. We check the opening, the crane position, the floor loading and the parking and permit position with the building manager, and put the answer in the description with photographs. The buyer then offers for the job as it stands.
The trading estates are more straightforward, and we check them in the same way: the yard, the turning space, the door and the floor. Theale sits next to junction 12 of the M4. The trade in Wokingham, Maidenhead, Basingstoke and Newbury is within easy reach for an inspection, and buyers elsewhere come by appointment.
What these sales can include
- CNC machining centres and lathes
- Printing presses
- Injection moulding machines
- Packaging lines
- Large generators and switchgear
- Cranes and heavy lifting equipment
- Specialist process plant
- Laboratory and test equipment
- Complete production cells
- Late model plant and vehicles
- Marine and rail equipment
- High value catering and bakery lines
How we market the asset
We inspect the asset, or have it inspected, and prepare a description with photographs, specification, condition and any service history. We then approach buyers directly: dealers who trade in that type of machine, and end users the asset suits. The asset can be advertised openly or offered only to selected parties. How open we are depends on how much confidentiality you need.
Interested buyers inspect by appointment. We attend or arrange access, answer questions and take offers. You are kept informed at each stage but do not have to deal with the buyers yourself.
There is no fixed end date. A private treaty sale takes as long as it takes to find the right buyer at the right price, which is one of its advantages and one of its costs.
The private treaty sales page covers when private treaty beats auction, how offers are handled, fees and what you receive, what to prepare.
Questions about selling in Reading
- Is there a market for a standby generator with very low hours?
Yes. A generator that has only run on test has little wear for a buyer to allow for, and the users are hire fleets, contractors, hospitals and data facilities. The value depends on the size, the age, the emissions standard and whether the switchgear and controls come with it. A set offered complete with its transfer switch and controls is easier to place than the engine alone, and we would describe it that way unless you need the switchgear to stay.
- Can test equipment be sold from an office rather than a factory?
Yes, and it usually is. Oscilloscopes, network analysers, environmental chambers and calibration references live in offices and labs, not on shop floors, and collection from them is routine. We inspect on site, check the calibration certificates, list the accessories and market the equipment to labs and dealers directly. Removal is usually a van collection through the goods entrance, and packing can be arranged where that is agreed.
More questions about private treaty
Related services
Guides
- Auction or private treaty: which route to choose
Auction gives you a fixed date and an open market. Private treaty gives you a negotiated price and privacy. This guide sets out when each route suits, what you give up with each, and why many sales use both.
- What happens to unsold lots
Not every lot sells, but the site still has to be cleared. This guide covers why lots go unsold, private treaty after the sale, lowering or removing the reserve, a later sale, scrap and WEEE recycling, and what disposal costs.