2017 – What we’ve been up to so far
The Disposals team here at Marriott & Co. aren’t sure where 2017 has gone. In fact, we have been so busy, we’re afraid that blog writing has rather gone out the window! But, we think it is about time we got around to telling everyone what we’ve been up to this year.
A number of online business asset auctions, private treaty sales and business sales have been keeping us occupied, among them glass laminating and glazing equipment, concrete pump lorries, and a paint spray booth oven, to name a few. Frances, the newest member of the team, has certainly had to quickly broaden her knowledge of a wide range of industries and their machinery! And she recently conquered the steering of a pallet truck, which she was rather delighted about.
We have also been fortunate to manage some very interesting and, not to blow our own trumpet (well, maybe a little bit!) very successful online business asset auctions this year.
Following the sad death of Ed Dubois and the resulting liquidation of his iconic company Dubois Naval Architects Ltd, Marriott & Co. were instructed to sell the business assets on behalf of the Liquidator back in February. The assets included the intellectual property, which included all the original drawings and designs for Dubois boat builds as well as the work in progress to complete the naval architectural responsibilities of a 58m superyacht, one of the world’s largest. The build has now finished and she successfully completed her sea trials in the Summer.
Other lots in the auction comprised the display models of several previous designs, and a RIB. The sale attracted worldwide interest and considerable press coverage, with all lots exceeding reserve in an excellent result for the Liquidation.
From the Liquidation of one well-known company to another. An instruction that followed shortly after was for the disposal of assets from Denmans Garden Limited, a popular gardens and plant centre near Arundel. Many of the impressive garden statues, architectural urns and planters familiar to visitors of the garden were included in the sale (of over 200 lots), such as the 4metre high (!) cast steel urns and pair of bronze lions. Again, the sale was an overwhelming success, producing what our client called a “stunning” result, that again had caught the attention of the press. We just hope we haven’t caused too much garden envy amongst the West Sussex neighbours.
We were of course delighted with the result, and it was of great satisfaction to see our hard work produce such an outcome. Although the resulting collection days were tinged with sadness, with many long-time, returning visitors upset to find the site closed. And we won’t tell you how many grown men it took to remove the cast bronze fountain!
Shortly after, ‘Marriott Marine Sales’ struck again with a private yacht collector’s instruction to sell the contents of his barns. This was the ultimate ‘barn find’, and Judith, Director of Disposals, had an exciting few days discovering the treasure trove of vintage items hidden away. For aside from the very special boats for sale (including two 6M Classics, a Freedom 21, RCOD and a rare McNulty), there was also vintage aviation pieces comprising posters, a De Havilland Vampire ejector seat, and a Venom cockpit canopy, Swiss Airforce imperial tools, an unused and unregistered 1987 Yamaha TZR motorbike and a vintage seed storage chest (among others). A truly eclectic sale that drew a large amount of interest and kept the disposal team busy for weeks!
The Summer ended with a liquidation sale of assets from Bethwins Garden Specialists Ltd, comprising a large amount of gardening machinery, as well as some pieces of interest such as a vintage broadcast seed box and barrow and a cast bronze statue of a rearing horse. Once again, the realisation exceeded all expectations, with nearly everything finding a new home – even the two highly vocal guard dogs that kept the team on their toes while lotting up…
Most recently, we have been busy with the sale of assets from Livis Limited (In Liquidation), a civil engineering and construction company. Many of the assets included equipment and materials used on the London Underground. With over 400 lots to display in the company’s large warehouse, it took the help of a forklift truck and lots of cups of tea to get everything ready. It was another highly successful result, with even the wheelie bins proving popular.
October has seen us finalise the sale of assets from Ballards Brewery Limited, as well as launch our new auction website: https://auction.marriottco.co.uk/. Current sales include an online auction of two Mercedes vans, an online auction of garden statues, urns, terracotta pots and a variety of plants and trees, a business sale for a physiotherapy clinic, the sale of business assets from a printer services company and a USA wind power patent.
Suffice to say, the disposal team are very much in demand.
On the valuation side, we have been keeping very busy, not only with our regular corporate valuation work in the printing industry, but also with corporate valuations this year at a major UK brewery, a multi-national steel processing company, a long established timber processing plant, numerous UK sewage treatment plants, a high volume envelope producer, deluxe central London hotels and suites, a luxury yacht building company, a Cisco gold partner and a famous steelworks.
Needless to say, our valuation team are keeping their passports in date and wondering how Brexit will affect their travel arrangements!
On the insolvency side, our valuation work has been even more wide ranging. To name a few that demonstrate the variety of our work, Marriott & Co. has completed Red Book valuations this year at a catering equipment supplier, a coach and bus operator, a tyre and exhaust fitters, a debt collection agency, a cleaning chemical manufacturer, a CCTV equipment manufacturer, various construction companies, two electrical contractors, an airport equipment supplier, various shops and retail outlets, a plant hire company, a plumbers and a fish & chip shop.
We have also been involved with valuations at three micro-breweries, two of which we have successfully completed asset sales for. In fact, Tom Allman now considers himself something of a beer specialist, but in a rather more professional context than in his younger days!
We are also valuing goodwill and intangible assets every month and would be very pleased to assist all our clients with this kind of valuation.