Planning the sale of remaining stock and work in progress at closure
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Review stock and work in progress separately from the machinery list when a business closes. Finished goods, partly completed work, customer property and unidentified materials need different decisions. A broad entry for 'remaining stock' hides the information needed to choose a route.
Start with a physical count or other suitable quantity record. Give each group a location and reference so the people checking ownership and outstanding orders are discussing the same items.
Make a stock-status map
| Status | First question | Evidence or next action |
|---|---|---|
| Finished business-owned stock | Is it available to sell, or committed to an order? | Ownership and order records |
| Work in progress | What remains to be done and who has rights or commitments relating to it? | Job file and responsible commercial contact |
| Customer-owned items | What supports the ownership entry? | Customer-property register and authorised instruction |
| Obsolete or damaged items | What is known about condition and potential use? | Factual condition record and appropriate specialist assessment |
| Unidentified items | Can their identity, quantity and ownership be established? | Hold for investigation rather than inventing a description |
The map does not decide technical compliance, waste status or legal rights. It identifies the questions that must be answered before those items are represented to a buyer.
Connect the stock to final production
Some materials may be needed for the last customer jobs. Link them to the final-production schedule and avoid committing them to a sale based solely on today's lack of activity.
A fictional example is a pallet of components beside a stopped machine. Half may belong to an unfinished order, some may be spare business stock and the rest may be rejected parts. The shared location does not make them one saleable lot.
Use the customer-property register for items belonging to customers. Keep related contractual questions with the responsible business contact or adviser. Do not use an assumed low value as a reason to ignore ownership.
Define what can be offered
Once status is confirmed, give the sale manager a clear description, quantity basis and available supporting records. Identify any missing specifications or condition uncertainties. This enables a discussion about suitable sale routes; it does not require you to invent a stock value or promise that every group will attract a buyer.
Use the exclusion guide to keep held or third-party stock out of broad catalogue photographs and descriptions. Update the map when quantities change through final production or dispatch.
Allow for what remains
Add unresolved stock groups to the handback contingency plan. Their destination may need a separate professional assessment or authorised arrangement rather than another machinery auction attempt.
Send the status map with the equipment inventory to UK Auction Group. Separating confirmed sale stock from unresolved material makes the first discussion more useful and avoids treating every object on site as the same disposal problem.
Explore the retirement and closure guides.
Sources
This guide gives general information. Equipment-specific, legal, tax and safety decisions may need a qualified adviser or competent specialist. The guides do not promise sale prices, fees or results.