Companies from Jordan and Egypt participated in an international asset sale of one of the UK’s best known equipment and vehicles companies, Weldon, last week.
The UK firm went into receivership last month, with the loss of 130 jobs, after the Royal Bank of Scotland cut its overdraft facilities.
It officially stopped trading on 5 October. The four-day auction attracted 320 bidders from as far afield as Jordan, Egypt, Australia, Liberia, Norway, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Greece, Cyprus and Romania.
The administrators said the auction raised US$2.7 million. Among the items sold were a Volvo EC360CL excavator which fetched more than $130,000, a Caterpillar D6R crawler tractor which made over $123,000, a Nooteboom Euro 83-04 extendable plant trailer which also raised over $123,000 and three Volvo A30D articulated dump trucks, each selling for up to £120,000.
Despite attracting strong international interest many of the vehicles will remain in the UK.
Patrick Ditcham of King Sturge Plant and Machinery, the company that conducted the auction on behalf of the administrative receivers, said, “There was strong global bidding, but it’s pleasing that the majority of the lots will remain in the UK. Nobody likes to see a company which has been part of the local industry for over three decades go out of business, but what they’ve left behind will be of benefit to a number of firms.”
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