Britannia AuctionsPrivate treaty sales in Wolverhampton
Two kinds of engineering sit a few miles apart in Wolverhampton. At i54 and Fordhouses the aerospace and engine plants run machining and inspection equipment that is only a few years old. In Bilston, Springvale, Wednesfield and Willenhall the pressings and fabrication shops run power presses, press brakes, laser cutters and guillotines, some of them in buildings that have housed metalworking for a century. Both produce single machines worth weighing for a negotiated sale rather than an auction.
Private treaty is that negotiated sale. We inspect the machine, write it up, approach the dealers and end users who trade in that type of machine, and put every offer to you in writing. No public catalogue and no sale date. Our fee is agreed in writing before marketing starts. If we think the machine would do better in an auction we say so, because that is often true for older plant.
New plants and the old works
From the newer plants the assets are late model machining centres, grinders, coordinate measuring machines and balancing equipment, often still under a maker's contract and often still on finance. The likely buyers are other precision subcontractors in Walsall, Telford, Cannock and Stafford, and machine tool dealers who trade in recent stock. A direct approach suits these, because a modern machine dates while it stands idle.
From the older estates the assets are heavier and the market is different. A large power press or a long press brake has a smaller buyer pool of pressings firms and fabricators, many of them within the Black Country itself, plus dealers who handle export. These sales run longer. Expect a buyer to want the machine under load, to check the foundation, to price the removal and to plan the lift, and we allow for that in the marketing period rather than rushing to a date.
Narrow roads and old floors
Many Black Country works were built for horses and carts and have had presses in them ever since. The access road may be narrow and the yard small or shared, and the floor under the machine may be the original foundation. A buyer's rigger needs to see all of that before they commit to a price, because the offer includes the cost of getting the machine to the road.
We walk the route with you before offers are invited and put the answers in the description. Door width, headroom, crane capacity if there is one, ground bearing at the door, and where a low loader can stand. Where a road closure or a mobile crane on the highway is needed we say so early.
The estates at Wednesfield Way and Planetary have more room to work in, and the A454 runs from there to junction 10 of the M6, though the yard and the door are checked there as well.
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 Wolverhampton
- Should I sell an old power press by private treaty or put it in an auction?
It depends on the press. A large capacity press with sound drives and a modern guard system has a market among pressings firms and exporters, and a negotiated sale is the way to reach them. A smaller or older press, or one with a worn crown or an obsolete control, is usually an auction lot, and the figure may be closer to its weight. We give you a straight opinion after we have seen it, and we do not push private treaty where an auction would suit better.
- Can you deal with the landlord about making good after a press comes out?
We can help, though the agreement is between you and the landlord. Leases on the older estates often require the floor to be made good and the pit filled after a press is removed. We put that obligation into the sale terms, so the buyer's rigger prices the work and does it as part of the removal, or we agree that you will do it after collection. Either way the description says who is responsible, which avoids an argument on the last day of the lease.
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.