Stock from recession-hit firms goes under hammer

The sale at industrial auctioneers CJM Asset Management will see goods ranging from motorcycle clothing and nightclub lights to the cooking equipment of a kebab shop being sold off after being seized by bailiffs.

Among the casualties is the well known Grimsby firm Nuttall’s Plumbing and Heating Supplies, which has gone into liquidation, and its vast range of stock is being sold in Tuesday’s auction.

In a separate online auction, which closes at noon next Thursday, professional fitness training equipment which cost more than £200,000 will be sold after being removed from a gym in the Thames Valley.

Auctioneer Paul Cooper said: “We’ve seen a lot of fallout in companies like this over the past 12 months. Activity in the house building industry is very subdued and everyone is cutting back on their spending, particularly on big ticket items like new bathrooms.

“However, the problems go much wider and this auction really does bring home just how difficult times are right now.

“Many firms around the country are finding it difficult even to pay the rent and we are seeing a big influx of goods, stock, machinery and equipment that has been seized by bailiffs.

“The high value lots in the auction include the machinery and materials from Olympic Blinds of Luton, one of the country’s leading manufacturers of blinds. They could not pay their rent.”