Britannia AuctionsWarehouse and logistics equipment sales in Milton Keynes
Milton Keynes was laid out for lorries, and the grid roads put a shed at Magna Park, Tongwell or Mount Farm within reach of junction 13 or 14 without a run through housing. What a particular yard, dock and door will take is still checked at the first visit and written into the catalogue, because that is what a bidder prices. Where the site is straightforward, the collection window can be planned around pace and sequence rather than around getting a vehicle in.
What comes out of these sheds is retail supply chain equipment. Multi tier pick towers, conveyors and sortation, order pickers and very narrow aisle trucks, and racking in runs that fill the building. The motorsport and electronics firms on Knowlhill and Kingston add smaller stores with stillages, bin shelving and a single reach truck. We sell all of it by online timed auction. Tell us what you have through the contact form.
Pick towers, conveyors and the order they come out in
An ecommerce shed is a fixed installation as much as a store. A two or three tier pick tower with shelving on every level, conveyors that feed it, a sortation line at despatch and a mezzanine over the returns area. Each of those can be sold, since a fit out contractor or the next operator has the alternative of a long wait for new, but each has to come out in an order that suits the building, by a competent crew the buyer arranges.
We catalogue the tower level by level and the conveyor line section by section, so a bidder can take the whole system or the part that fits their building. Then we agree the collection window with you, with the sequence in mind. Order pickers and reach trucks first, shelving and small equipment next, the conveyor line after that, and the tower and the racking last is the usual shape. Whether two crews can work at once depends on the room at the dock, which is one of the things the site visit settles.
Small stores on the technology parks
Not every warehouse here is a shed. The automotive, motorsport and electronics firms on Knowlhill, Kingston and Wolverton Mill run stores inside their units, with longspan shelving, bin racks, stillages for components, a stacker or a compact reach truck and packing equipment at the door. When a programme ends or the firm moves, that equipment comes to market in a lot count of fifty or a hundred rather than a few big machines.
The trades that use this kit are close at hand. Other engineering firms on the same parks, trade counters in Bletchley and workshops in Newport Pagnell, Bedford and Leighton Buzzard fit out with bin shelving and small trucks, and a current inspection report is the first thing they look for. We lot by bay so a small buyer can take one run without bidding for the building. Where the unit shares a yard with an office car park, we run collection by appointment and keep it to working hours.
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 Milton Keynes
- We have a three tier pick tower at Magna Park. Is it worth selling or should we scrap it?
It is worth offering before you scrap it. Shelving on a pick tower is standard longspan and the structure is steel a contractor can reuse, so a fit out firm or an operator taking a similar shed along the M1 can use it as a whole. Offering the tower with its shelving as one lot is usually the route we would suggest, and we say what interest we would expect before you commit. We describe the tier heights, the deck loading and the dismantling window so bidders can price the removal, which they arrange and pay for.
- Our shed is being handed back on a fixed date. Can the racking come out after the trucks?
That is the usual shape, and we agree it with you for the site. Trucks, chargers and small equipment take the first collection days because they leave on a lorry quickly. Racking has to come down, the buyer's crew does that at the buyer's cost, and it needs a clear floor, so it takes the last slot. The last racking day would sit a few days before the handover to leave time for sweeping, anchor removal and slab repairs.
More questions about warehouse equipment