James Currie, Darran Mellish and Tomasz Orkiszewski from the SPOA Executive Committee hosted a delegation of members at Euro Auctions’ flagship facility in Leeds earlier this year. The group of around 25 SPOA members was lucky enough to witness the biggest ever sale with 8,600 lots going under the hammer, generating an impressive £58 million.

Speaking about the visit, James Currie said: “What a great trip this was. On behalf of the SPOA, I’d like to thank the team at Euro Auctions for making us so welcome and giving us a fascinating insight into the auction process. The scale of the operation is mind blowing and we saw everything from mini excavators, telescopic handlers, access equipment, site dumpers, compaction equipment, dozers, ADTs, wheeled loaders and graders. To be there when Euro Auctions broke the record was the icing on the cake!”

Here are some highlights from the visit.

About Euro Auctions

Founded in 1988 in County Tyrone, the company now employs 300 people of 20 different nationalities across 14 countries, with over 30 languages spoken. Over 100 major auctions are held each year in eight countries across four continents.

The 85-acre Leeds facility continues to be Euro Auctions’ flagship operation, holding the largest auctions of construction and agricultural machinery in Europe.

Behind the scenes

Chris Rankin, territory manager for Scotland at Euro Auctions, hosted the SPOA delegation and gave members behind the scenes access to better understand the process.

Members followed the process of a JCB 220X LC excavator, originally part of the fleet of SPOA member company Gordon Bow Plant Hire Ltd, which was now up for sale as the fleet is updated.

In advance of its arrival at the auction site, the machine was registered on the Euro Auctions online system by the seller; detailing the serial number, year of manufacture, hours worked, key features and overall condition. Instructions were also provided of any required work to be undertaken by the dedicated team at the workshop on site to prepare it for auction.

On arrival, the machine is entered into the system by personnel using handheld devices to initially locate the machine on the system by correlating the serial number. A comprehensive evaluation of the machine is then conducted with special features logged together with additional details which will ultimately appear on the auction catalogue and web-based promotional channels including the online catalogue and social media.

Once all the details relevant to the machine are logged in the system, a number of details are filled out on a sticker applied to the outside of the cabin door which include serial number, vehicle code and the auction to which it is assigned. In addition, a series of colour coded labels are applied to the sticker with each denoting if certain actions are to be undertaken before the machine takes its place in the auction inventory line-up. Each label colour represents a specific activity which is conducted in sequence with individual colours for refuelling, washing, full valeting and workshop procedures, should they be requested in advance by the seller.

Workshop

Constructed in 2019, this purpose-built facility is impressive. Equipped with high-capacity gantry cranes, and with good headroom, the workshops allow for the largest machines to be accommodated. The workshop is capable not only of undertaking aesthetic improvements such as paint jobs but can also carry out full machine overhauls.

Photography and video

Once all the necessary preparations have been completed, the machines move on to an adjacent dedicated area for photography and recording of demonstration videos. All aspects of each machine are photographed by the team of eight photographers who are also versed in the operation of the machines for the creation of demonstration videos.

Now seen as a standard requirement, these demonstration videos became vital to provide valuable insight into machine condition and to help identify any shortcomings during the Covid lockdown, as Chris Rankin explains: “During the Covid restrictions, all bidding was done online since no purchasers could access our auction site. To give purchasers all the information on machine condition they needed, we had to make an individual 30 second video of each of the 2,500 lots in the initial sale which was the start of a trend for us and is something we now continue even though public viewing is obviously now possible again.”

On completion of photography and video recording, each machine is taken to a specific area within the vast parking areas where the sales inventory remains for viewing before each auction.

Auction

There are three sales rings at the Leeds auction facility. Two of these sales rings operate a parade style format where the lots on offer are fed through on an adjoining ramp before the seated bidders inside a covered viewing area. In addition to those bidders present, many others join the auction online while others choose to set up advance bids of maximum values on specific lots that interest them. This can be done remotely or through a series of advance bid registration stations located in a dedicated area of the third sales ring.

Unlike the two parade style rings, lots on offer through sales ring three are displayed on a large screen inside this enclosed auditorium. Video footage is displayed, fed through from a dedicated mobile unit travelling through the sales yard around which some bidders also gather with the split second bid detection resulting in equal recognition for present bidders, both inside and outside at Leeds, and also those logged in online.

With all lots sold without a reserve price in place and no possibility of sellers bidding to purchase back their own equipment through contractual safeguards, each lot is sold in a swift fashion with the true market value achieved in each instance.

In addition to this unreserved sale, a timed auction runs in tandem concentrating on smaller lots and attachments.

On the occasion of the SPOA visit, of the 8,600 lots presented for sale by 755 individual sellers, a total sales value of £58 million was realised.

After auction

Euro Auctions also assists with transporting the purchased machinery to the customer, wherever they are based.

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