SIA Group was instructed by Deloitte UK, Administrators of Cartwright Group, to conduct the complete asset sale of the UK’s leading commercial vehicle body, trailer and conversion manufacturing business.

The Altrincham-based business was heavily impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, resulting in the closure of the manufacturing site. Cartwright Group employed around 800 people at its peak.

Following seven weeks intensive preparation SIA Group conducted the online auction of assets in November 2020, which saw 3,500 lots sold across four countries.

The assets comprised the full range of trailer manufacturing equipment, including CNC and conventional machine tools, compressors, materials handling equipment and motor vehicles. The follow up auction in respect of the remaining assets in February 2021 resulted in a further 1,500 lots sold.

“ The fact these results were achieved during lockdown was a significant achievement for everyone involved.”

SIA Group received unprecedented demand from bidders to register and to view lots remotely resulting in record numbers of auction registrants. Bidders were offered video calls and live stream viewings to enable them to examine the lots in a COVID-19 secure environment and potential buyers were updated with drone footage, showing the vast range of assets on offer.

Following the successful auction, SIA Group’s specialist property team turned its attention to the sprawling Altrincham site, which comprised 217,189 sq ft of industrial warehouse space, situated on a total of 11.37 acres. They marketed the exciting redevelopment opportunity and arranged the successful completion of the sale on behalf of the administrators.

Paul Tracey, Head of Auctions said: “The Cartwright auction was a fantastic project to work on. There were multiple moving parts and numerous issues to be resolved at every stage, from site logistics to the number of lots involved and from Retention of Title issues surrounding the trailers to obtaining the requisite Brexit documentation i.e., Economic Operators Registration and Identification (EORI) numbers.

“We are also very aware that administrations such as this involve a real human story, with large numbers of individuals affected by the collapse of the business. We were delighted to work with several of the longest-serving members of Cartwright’s team, who were retained alongside us for six months. It was a superb team effort and their help was invaluable throughout the process.

David Elliott, Director at Deloitte LLP, said: “We have an excellent working relationship with SIA Group. Their auctions team worked tirelessly to deliver an asset disposal programme on a vast scale and realised exceptional sale performance in terms of both volume and values. The fact these results were achieved during lockdown was a significant achievement for everyone involved. SIA Group is a dependable partner and we strongly value their industry expertise, can-do approach and unrelenting focus on results.”