Britannia AuctionsStock clearance auctions in Middlesbrough
Shutdowns leave stock behind. A turnaround on one of the process plants along the Tees is planned for months, the contractors order material with a margin, and when the plant restarts the margin is still on the shelf. Flanges, gaskets, valves, studbolts and pipe in lengths that no other job will call for. The same happens at the fabrication shops when a module leaves the yard, and at the plant hire depots when a fleet is sold and the spares stay.
Selling that stock to the trade is a matter of knowing who uses it. The engineering and pipework firms around Riverside Park and Cannon Park are within a short drive of a viewing day, and the sale is online, so the catalogue is open to buyers anywhere.
Tell us what is in the stores and we will say how we would lot it.
Process material left after a shutdown
Process material has a value that depends on paperwork. A carbon steel flange with a mill certificate and a heat number sells to a pipework contractor who can put it into certified work. The same flange without paperwork sells to a fabricator doing general work, at a lower price. We sort the two apart before we list and say plainly which is which, because the buyers ask.
Valves and instruments sell best in lots of one type and size. Small bore fittings, studbolts and gaskets sell by the box or the bin. Pipe sells by the length and grade, laid out so it can be measured on viewing day.
Welding consumables, abrasives, small tools and PPE from a contractor's site stores go into the same sale as general lots. Rods and wire that have been kept dry and are still in date are described as such, because condition and date are what the buyers ask about. Opened packets are lotted separately.
Loading heavy lots on hard standing
The estates by the river were built for heavy plant, and the first visit checks what your own site has: hard standing, room for a lorry alongside a stack of pipe, and whether there is a forklift or a crane to load with. What we find goes in the catalogue so buyers know before they bid. We set collection days after the sale closes and give each buyer a slot.
Stock spread across a plant at Wilton or a yard at Redcar takes a different plan. We ask for it to be brought to one place before viewing, or we photograph it where it stands and put the collection point in the catalogue. Buyers will drive out to the site if the lot is worth it.
Stockton, Billingham, Hartlepool and Darlington are all within a short drive of a viewing day, and the sale is online, so the rest of the UK sees the same catalogue.
What these sales can include
- Discontinued product lines
- Overordered components and parts
- Customer returns and graded stock
- Seasonal goods
- Ex display and showroom items
- Packaging and consumables
- Raw materials and fabrics
- Bulk trade stock on pallets
- Tools and hardware
- Homeware and furniture stock
- Clothing and footwear
- Building products and fixings
Running the sale
A stock clearance runs as an online timed auction, open for a week to ten days in most cases. There is a viewing day at your premises, or at the location where the stock has been gathered. Bidders inspect the lots, then bid online until each lot closes.
After the sale, buyers collect within a window agreed with you, usually a few days. Collection is the point where a stock sale needs organising. Buyers arrive with vans and lorries, lots have to be handed to the right person and the paperwork has to match. Our staff manage the door and sign each lot out.
If you cannot host viewing and collection, the stock can be moved to our premises or a third party warehouse where that is agreed. That adds transport cost but keeps the process away from your trading site.
The stock clearance auctions page covers when an auction is the right route, lotting the stock, offered as seen and the buyer's position, alternatives to auction.
Questions about selling in Middlesbrough
- A contractor left consumables in our stores at the end of the shutdown. Whose stock is it?
Check the contract before anything is listed. Material bought by the contractor on their account is theirs unless the contract passed title to you at delivery or at the end of the job. Free issue material you supplied is yours. Where the contractor has gone into insolvency, the office holder decides. We ask for the position in writing, keep any disputed lots out of the catalogue, and sell the rest. It is a common question and it is usually settled once the contract has been checked.
- Can we sell welding gas cylinders with the rods and wire?
Usually not. Cylinders are almost always rented from the gas supplier and stay their property, so they go back rather than into the sale. What can be sold is the equipment around them. Regulators, hoses, torches and welding sets are lotted for the fabrication trade, and the rods and wire go by the box. If you own the cylinders outright and can show it, tell us and we will list them with the paperwork.
More questions about stock clearance
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.
- 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.