Britannia AuctionsWarehouse and logistics equipment sales in Preston
Three motorways meet near Preston, and the distribution sheds at Walton Summit and Red Scar are there because of it. When a contract ends in one of those sheds, the racking, reach trucks and dock equipment inside are what the next operator along the M6 fits out with. Whether the yard takes an articulated lorry is checked at the first visit, and where it does the sale is straightforward to run on a tight timetable.
The aerospace supply chain is a different job. Machining, composites and tooling firms serving Samlesbury run controlled stores, with kitting racks, tool cabinets, bonded areas and shelving built for parts that are tracked by serial number. When a work package moves or a supplier closes, that equipment sells to other precision firms, and it needs describing by someone who knows what it is. We sell both by online timed auction. Tell us what you have through the contact form.
Controlled stores from the aerospace supply chain
An aerospace supplier's stores is built for traceability rather than throughput. Static shelving with location labels, kitting trolleys, tool control cabinets, bonded cages for released parts, ESD benches where there is electronics, and a small reach truck or stacker for the racking in the raw material area. Add cantilever racking for bar and sheet stock and a stretch wrapper at despatch and the lot count runs into the hundreds.
None of it is glamorous and all of it is the everyday equipment of precision engineering, which is what gives it a market. We catalogue by area, keep the tool cabinets and the bonded cages as single lots and lot the shelving in runs, so a machine shop in Chorley or Blackburn can buy one run without bidding for the whole store. Any equipment the customer funded, or that sits on their asset register, needs their agreement before it goes in, and we ask about that at the first visit.
Walton Summit sheds and the motorway junctions
The logistics sheds at Walton Summit sit close to the junctions of the M6, M55 and M65, which puts a sale there within an hour of much of the North West's warehouse trade. Chorley, Blackburn, Lancaster and Blackpool are a manageable drive from the viewing day, and a haulier collecting for a dealer further off can route a trailer past on the way to another job. Transport cost is one of the things a bidder prices in, and the position helps with it.
The equipment is standard and the sale is planned against the handover date. Reach trucks, counterbalance trucks and powered pallet trucks would take the first collection days, with inspection reports and hour readings in the catalogue. Racking comes down last, by a crew the buyer arranges and pays for, once the floor is clear, in an order agreed with you. Dock levellers and shelters suit fit out contractors, with the removal described. The food and trade firms at Roman Way sell the same way, and the chilled racking and plastic pallets suit other food firms.
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 Preston
- We run chilled distribution at Roman Way. Does the cold store equipment sell in a warehouse sale?
Yes. Racking rated for chill areas, plastic pallets, insulated roll containers, the powered pallet trucks that worked in the cold store and the pallet scales and label printers at despatch all sell to other food distributors and to general warehouse buyers. The cold room itself is a separate question. Panel cold rooms and the refrigeration plant can be offered, though the buyer arranges and pays for the dismantling and the refrigerant has to be recovered by a certified engineer, so we describe them with that in mind.
- Our unit at Red Scar is on a lease that ends in eight weeks. Is that long enough?
Yes, with some room to spare. Eight weeks covers a site visit and cataloguing in the first fortnight, two weeks of bidding with a viewing day, and a collection window of a week or so, which leaves time for the racking to come down and the floor to be made good before the landlord's inspection. How quickly collection runs depends on the lot count and on what the yard and dock take, which we check on the visit. The sooner we see the unit, the more of that margin you keep.
More questions about warehouse equipment