Britannia AuctionsSurplus equipment sales in Newcastle upon Tyne
Offshore and subsea work runs by project, and every project leaves something behind. Test rigs built for one contract. Containers fitted out as workshops and never used again. A generator bought for a job that finished two winters ago. Winches, hydraulic power units, lifting gear, site accommodation, the welfare cabins from a fabrication yard at Walker or Newburn. It sits on the quayside or in a compound and costs money to keep.
That is what we mean by surplus, and selling it does not need the yard to stop. We catalogue on site around your operation, sell by online timed auction over a week or two, bring buyers in to view by appointment and book collection into slots you set. The trade in Gateshead, Wallsend, Cramlington and Blyth is well placed to come and look before bidding closes, and online bidding is open to marine and construction firms across the UK and beyond.
Tell us what is standing idle. We will say what is worth selling.
Project end kit from the riverside yards
Marine and subsea surplus is a specialist market with a wide reach. A hydraulic power unit or a pressure test rig from a Tyne fabricator is exactly what a yard elsewhere in the North Sea trade might be looking for, and online bidding puts it in front of them. Lifting gear with current test certificates can go straight back to work, which is what a buyer looks for, and the catalogue says whether it has them.
Containers and site accommodation suit the widest range of buyers, from construction firms and plant hirers to farmers and small builders, and a container fitted out as a workshop or office is worth more than an empty one where the fit out is described and photographed.
Fabrication plant, welding sets, plasma cutters, rolls and presses, is catalogued for other engineering shops, and the trade on Team Valley and along the A1 is near enough to come and see the lots.
Collecting from a compound by the river
The riverside roads at Walker are narrow in places, and Newburn Riverside and the estates near the A1 were laid out differently again. We check each site before the sale, for vehicle access and room to turn, the loading arrangements, the ground and the route out, and the catalogue tells buyers what each lot needs. Heavy items are collected in booked slots, one buyer at a time, with our staff on site to release each lot against a paid invoice.
How containers and cabins leave depends on the site and the lifting available, and we group their collection so one vehicle can take several rather than blocking the compound all week.
Project cargo going overseas can leave through the Port of Tyne, and a buyer abroad arranges the shipping themselves. Small lots, test instruments, hand tools, office contents and IT, can come to our own premises and be sold there.
What these sales can include
- Machine tools and CNC equipment
- Forklifts and access platforms
- Pallet racking and shelving
- Compressors and air tools
- Welders and fabrication kit
- Vehicles and trailers
- Test and measurement equipment
- Site accommodation and containers
- Packaging and labelling machines
- Obsolete stock and components
- Office furniture and IT
- Catering and canteen equipment
Selling from a live site
Most surplus sales happen inside a business that is still trading. That changes how we work. Cataloguing is done around your shifts. Viewing is by appointment or on a single day, with visitors signed in and escorted. Collection is booked in slots so that nobody is moving a machine through the middle of a production run.
Items that are still bolted down, plumbed in or connected to services are isolated by a competent person before collection, with electrical and gas disconnection done by qualified people. Buyers arrange and pay for the removal of their lots, and they do not disconnect services themselves.
Tell us about anything that affects access: weight limits on floors, door heights, crane availability, restricted hours. It all goes in the catalogue so buyers plan the removal properly.
The surplus equipment sales page covers what counts as surplus, one sale or a standing arrangement, pricing, reserves and the buyer's premium, after the sale.
Questions about selling in Newcastle upon Tyne
- Our kit is stored in a compound we share with another contractor. Is that a problem?
No, but it changes the plan. We tag and photograph your lots so there is no doubt what is in the sale, and viewing is by appointment with our staff escorting each visitor. Collection is booked into slots so only one buyer's lorry is in the compound at a time, and we agree with you and the other contractor when those are. Nothing leaves without a paid invoice and a member of our staff releasing it.
- Does lifting gear need a current test certificate before we sell it?
It does not have to have one, but the certificate changes what a buyer can do with it. A shackle or a winch with an in date certificate can go straight back to work. Without one it is offered as untested and bidders price it that way. If your gear is due a test anyway, doing it before the sale gives them something firm to bid on. We describe every item honestly either way, and buyers know what they are getting.
More questions about surplus equipment
Related services
Guides
- Preparing machinery and equipment for sale
What to do before viewing day. Keep the machines that can be run safely available to demonstrate, isolate the rest, clean but do not repaint, find the tooling and manuals, and sort out access for removal.
- How used machinery is valued
Buyers pay for what a machine will do for them, less what it costs to get it out and running. This guide explains how make, hours, tooling, demand and removal cost feed a guide price, and why that price is not book value.