Britannia AuctionsWarehouse and logistics equipment sales in Telford
Telford's estates were laid out for lorries before the factories were built, and that usually helps when a stores has to be cleared. Even so, the yard, the turning space, the door dimensions and the loading facilities at a unit at Hortonwood or a factory at Halesfield are checked on our first visit, and the findings go into the catalogue so buyers know what they are bringing. The M54 puts the West Midlands within the hour.
What is in the building is mostly a component maker's stores. Stillages and tote bins for parts, pallet racking, longspan shelving, a mezzanine over the goods in area and forklifts and powered pallet trucks that run three shifts. Plastics moulders and food processors add bulk bag racking, drum stands and wash down shelving. We sell all of it by online timed auction when a programme ends, a plant closes or a firm moves estate. Tell us what you have through the contact form.
Stillages, totes and the count that matters
An automotive component plant holds its stock in returnable packaging rather than on pallets. Steel stillages, post pallets, plastic tote bins in the hundreds and the racks that hold them. When a model programme ends and the plant winds down, that packaging is often the largest lot by volume, and buyers want to know exactly what they are getting. So we count it. Stillages by size and type, totes by size and colour, and the racks by bay.
Other component makers across Telford and down the M54 to Wolverhampton run on stillages by the hundred, and fabricators, machine shops and stockholders use the rest. Forklifts from these plants often carry high hours, so we record them honestly with the inspection reports and let bidders price them on that. Pallet racking, longspan shelving and the mezzanine suit the trade in Shrewsbury, Bridgnorth and Stafford.
Moulders' raw material stores and wash down shelving
Plastics moulders keep their raw material in bulk bags and octabins, and their stores are built for it. Bulk bag racking, drum stands and IBC bunds, heavy duty pallet racking for the resin pallets and a counterbalance truck with a bag lifter or a rotator. Food processors on the same estates have galvanised or plastic coated racking from wash down areas, plastic pallets and pallet scales. Both kinds of kit have a market of their own alongside the general warehouse buyers.
We catalogue the specialist lots separately so a firm looking for bulk bag racking finds it, and we lot the standard racking by run with frame heights and beam lengths recorded. How fast collection runs depends on the yard. Where there is room for a racking crew and a haulier at the same time, the window can be short and the handover date can sit close to the sale close, which is one of the things the site visit settles. The trade in Newport, Market Drayton and Shifnal is a manageable drive from the viewing day.
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 Telford
- Our plant at Halesfield is closing when the model runs out next year. When should we talk to you?
Now, or as soon as the closure date is fixed. Early notice lets us see the stores while it is working, count the stillages and totes and note which equipment the customer owns. It also lets you decide what to sell early, such as spare racking or a truck that is no longer needed, and what has to wait for the last shipment. The sale can then be timed to close about two weeks before the handover, with the collection window in the gap, depending on the lot count and the access.
- Some of our stillages and racks belong to the vehicle maker we supply. Can we sell those?
No, not without their written agreement, and it is common for returnable packaging in the automotive trade to belong to the customer. A truck on lease or hire purchase is the funder's until the agreement is settled, and can only be sold where they agree. At the site visit we ask which stillages, totes and racks are yours and which are on the customer's register, mark the difference in the count and keep customer owned items out of the catalogue. The customer usually collects theirs before the sale or agrees a date with you.
More questions about warehouse equipment