Britannia AuctionsWarehouse and logistics equipment sales in Bristol
The distribution sheds at Avonmouth and Severnside are built on a scale that changes the sale. High bay racking runs to ten or twelve metres, the trucks are very narrow aisle machines with wire or rail guidance, and the loading bays run to dozens of docks. When a national operator consolidates or a food and drink contract moves, the equipment left behind is worth a proper auction, and it needs bidders who run buildings of the same size.
Smaller sales come from packaging firms at Brislington and engineering stores across the north fringe. We sell all of it by online timed auction. What a low loader can reach is checked at the site visit, along with turning space, door sizes, floor levels and the yard, and the findings go into the catalogue. Bidding is online and open nationally, and the trade in Bath, Weston-super-Mare, Yate, Portishead and across the M4 in South Wales is within reach of a viewing day. Tell us through the contact form what the building holds.
Very narrow aisle trucks and high bay racking
Equipment from a large shed sells to a smaller pool of buyers than a standard warehouse produces, so the sale has to reach them. A very narrow aisle truck with wire guidance, a man up order picker or an articulated forklift suits other high bay operators and specialist dealers rather than the trade counter down the road. We photograph the mast at full height, record hours and guidance type and give the sale a longer run online so the right bidders find it.
High bay racking is the other large item. Buyers want the frame heights, the beam ratings, the number of bays and whether the racking was installed with the guide wire in the slab. We lot it by run and agree a dismantling window with you that follows the trucks out, since the aisles have to be clear before the racking comes down. Where the yard has room for an articulated lorry, buyers can load direct, and we confirm that at the site visit rather than assume it from the estate.
Racking anchors, slab repairs and the handover
A landlord at Severnside expects the slab back as it was, and a shed with several thousand racking anchors in the floor is not that. Dilapidations are the seller's problem, but the auction can be run so that the problem is smaller. Where you agree it, racking is sold on the basis that the buyer's contractor removes the frames, cuts or extracts the anchors and leaves the holes ready for filling, and the collection days are set so the making good can follow straight after.
The larger the shed, the more this is worth planning. Work back from the date the keys go in. Racking is the slow part, so the auction wants to close early enough to leave a clear week for floor repairs and the final clean. A workable order is trucks, chargers and dock equipment first, then the racking, then the contractors, and we agree that order with you rather than impose it.
What these sales can include
- Counterbalance forklifts
- Reach trucks
- Powered pallet trucks
- Hand pallet trucks
- Pallet racking
- Mezzanine floors
- Longspan and cantilever shelving
- Conveyors and sortation
- Roll cages and stillages
- Stretch wrap machines
- Pallet scales
- Battery chargers
- Order pickers and stackers
- Dock levellers and loading equipment
How the sale runs
After a site visit we agree what is in the sale and what stays. We catalogue and photograph each lot, list the sale online and market it to warehouse operators, dealers and contractors. Bidders view on a set day, then bid online over the sale period, with lots closing in sequence.
Lots are offered as seen under the auction terms, with buyers expected to inspect before bidding. The buyer pays the hammer price plus a buyer's premium, with VAT charged where it applies and shown separately. We collect payment before release.
Collection runs over a window agreed with you. Buyers arrange and pay for the removal of their lots, with suitable handling equipment or specialist contractors where the item needs them. Our staff attend to release lots against paid invoices and see that dismantling is done safely.
The warehouse and logistics equipment sales page covers racking and how it comes down, forklifts and the records that matter, the small equipment adds up, timing a sale around a site handover.
Questions about selling in Bristol
- Our order pickers are wire guided. Does the guide wire go with them?
No. The wire is set into the slab and stays with the building, and the buyer knows to expect that. What matters is that the trucks are described accurately, with the guidance type, the lift height, the hours and the latest report of thorough examination. Guidance type decides whether a shed can use the truck at all, so an accurate description saves everyone a wasted viewing. Chargers and spare batteries are lotted alongside the trucks.
- Does a sale at Severnside reach the South Wales trade?
It does. The M4 and the M49 put the Severnside estates an easy run from the South Wales estates, so a viewing day is within reach of operators there. We market each sale on both sides of the estuary and up the M5 towards the Midlands, and online bidding covers the rest of the UK. Racking is normally removed by the buyer's own contractor, at the buyer's cost, and how much room there is to load is something we record at the site visit.
More questions about warehouse equipment