Liquidation and Insolvency Auctions

RICS-partnered liquidation auctions for UK insolvency practitioners, administrators, and business owners winding down.

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Fast, transparent business asset auctions with full audit trail

When a UK business enters liquidation, administration, or receivership, its assets need converting to cash quickly and at fair market value. Universal Auctions Group runs online insolvency auctions for IPs, administrators, receivers, and business owners closing down. Our process is built around speed, transparency, and a clean audit trail, with RICS-registered chartered surveyors partnered for valuation and inventory verification where required for creditor reporting.

Urgent cases can be on-site within 48 hours and catalogued within a week. Auctions reach a UK and international buyer pool through online bidding, with EORI-registered export documentation handled for overseas buyers. Single-asset disposals through to full business closure auctions with thousands of lots, all handled under one process and one settlement.

  • Our team attends the consignor's premises to photograph, measure, and record every asset before it goes live. Lots are described with brand, model, condition, and any visible damage, so buyers can bid without travelling for an inspection day. The on-site approach means assets do not move ahead of sale, which keeps the audit trail clean for creditor reporting and avoids the storage and transport costs of relocating stock to a central yard. For larger consignments we attend with multiple catalogers to keep the process tight against your timeline, and we can run alongside RICS valuation visits where one is being commissioned in parallel.

  • We work in partnership with RICS-registered chartered surveyors for formal valuation reports, which IPs and lenders need for creditor compliance, statutory reporting, tax, probate, or insurance purposes. Valuation is a separate workstream from auction settlement, with its own report issued to your specification (market value, forced sale value, going concern, or insurance reinstatement as required). For business owners considering a voluntary winding down rather than a formal insolvency process, a valuation can also clarify the realisable value of the assets ahead of any decision on route, including pre-pack discussions where applicable.

  • Lots go live on our online bidding platform with a fixed bidding window, typically 5 to 7 days. Buyers register, verify ID, place bids or set an autobid maximum, and pay before collection. The online format means stock reaches buyers far beyond the local trade, which often increases realisations on internationally tradeable assets such as plant, vehicles, machinery, and IT equipment. International buyers bid against UK trade buyers in the same auction, which keeps competition tight and protects the price floor. Settlement reporting is issued lot-by-lot once the sale closes and buyers have paid in cleared funds.

  • Universal Auctions Group is EORI registered, which means we can complete the customs and export paperwork required for VAT-friendly export to EU and non-EU buyers post-Brexit. For internationally tradeable assets this matters because it opens the buyer pool to overseas dealers and end users without forcing them onto a separate paperwork process. Where VAT is chargeable we operate the auctioneers' margin scheme where applicable, and where it is not we collect and remit VAT on behalf of the seller with the full paperwork supplied at settlement. The combined effect is fewer friction points for buyers and a higher realisation for the consignor.