Britannia AuctionsPrivate treaty sales in Swindon
The redevelopment of the South Marston car plant site has changed what comes to market locally, and the suppliers who fed it are affected too. A robot welding cell, a press line, a paint or sealing system, a set of assembly fixtures: each is one big asset whose likely buyers are other tier suppliers, integrators, exporters and dealers, and each suits negotiation rather than the hammer. Swindon's other sectors add different assets to the same list. Pharmaceutical and electronics firms on the north and east sides of the town run validated process equipment, lab instruments, test rigs and pick and place lines, and the print trade runs presses.
We inspect, describe, approach the buyers directly and put every offer to you in writing with our recommendation. Our fee is agreed in writing before marketing starts, and there is no public sale date.
Tell us what the asset is and we will say whether treaty or auction is the better route.
Robots and press tooling after the car plant
Automotive plant sells to people who already have a use for it. An integrator taking a robot cell for a line elsewhere will want the robot models, the controller versions, the hours and the cell drawings. A press line suits another stamping firm, or a dealer who may ship it abroad, and the price turns on tonnage, bed size, stroke and whether the tooling comes with it.
Pharmaceutical and electronics equipment is a different market with the same rule. A tablet press, a coating machine, a freeze dryer or a surface mount line suits other manufacturers and the dealers who serve them, and the validation file, the calibration records, the service history and the software licence position are what the buyer is paying for. We gather those before anyone is approached.
Print presses go to the dealers who strip, ship, reinstall and commission them, and they want to see the press running.
Buyers from both ends of the M4
Swindon sits between two markets. The M4 connects it to Bristol and South Wales in one direction and to Reading and Oxford in the other, with junctions 15 and 16 close to most of the town's estates. The A419 adds the Gloucester and Cirencester trade, and the firms in Chippenham, Marlborough, Faringdon and Royal Wootton Bassett are within easy reach for an inspection. That reach can bring more than one serious party to a single machine, and where it does we run sealed bids to a fixed closing date.
The removal is checked on every site. At Blagrove, Symmetry Park, the South Marston estate, Cheney Manor, Groundwell or Kembrey Park we look at the approach, the turning space, the yard and the door, and what we find decides the vehicle and the handling equipment. A press line is a rigging job wherever it stands, and we settle the crane, the route, the floor and the isolation of services before an offer is invited.
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 Swindon
- Our pharmaceutical equipment was validated for our product. Does that matter to a buyer?
It matters a great deal. A buyer will revalidate the machine for their own product, and a complete file of the original IQ and OQ documents, the calibration history, the service log and the change control records cuts that work, and it is part of what they are paying for. Keep every document, including the software and licence details. Where the file is incomplete we say so in the description, because a buyer who discovers a gap after the offer will use it to reopen the price.
- The press line has to be out before the site is handed to the developer. Can you work to that date?
We work to it by proposing a timetable rather than promising one. The date goes in the description from the first day, so every buyer prices the job to it. Work back from the handover: time for the buyer's rigging crew to survey, quote, strip and load the line, and time for the floor to be made good where the agreement requires it. Marketing has to start before all of that, so the earlier you talk to us the wider the choice of buyer. A late start narrows the field to whoever can move fastest.
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.