Businesses from all over the world are expected to bid for a range of machinery, plant, equipment and over £1m of stock which is going under the hammer following the closure of Wansbrough Mill in Somerset.
Firms from as far afield as Russia, Canada and Egypt have expressed an interest in bidding for the lots.
The paper mill is owned by DS Smith Paper Limited, which has instructed leading commercial property and asset consultancy Lambert Smith Hampton (LSH) and John Wilkie Paper Mill Services Limited to dispose of the contents of the site at Watchet.
Stock and equipment being sold at the auction includes paper converting and packaging equipment, hydraulic excavator, fork lift, engineering, woodworking and factory equipment and a low pressure steam turbine power generation system.
Viewing for the auction will take place at Wansbrough Mill from 10am on Monday, July 25, and bidding will end at 3pm on July 27. The event is being run by Jason Hall, director of national machinery and business assets, of LSH in Bristol.
Mike Hanson, director of machinery and business assets at LSH in Nottingham, said he had expected the auction to attract a huge amount of interest, with so much good quality stock and equipment going under the hammer, and he had not been disappointed.
“Within days of announcing the auction we were getting requests for catalogues from firms right around the world. We’ve been in touch with potential European bidders in Germany, Italy and Finland, but also in Kenya, Russia, Dubai, India, Egypt and Pakistan.
“There’s also huge interest from UK and Ireland businesses, so we’re expecting a very successful auction.”
In addition to the auction Mike, in association with John Wilkie Paper Mill Services Limited, is marketing for sale by private treaty the paper mill production lines which produces fluting and liner papers as well as envelopes and bag kraft papers. He said “Following a successful sale at Aylesford Newsprint, this is another exciting disposal appointment, on this occasion on behalf of DS Smith, and we anticipate serious interest from across the globe for the paper mill lines and associated equipment.”
DS Smith closed the historic mill late last year, ending 256 years of paper-making in Watchet. The company has nine other paper mills across Europe, strategically located near raw material sources and their customers. Its mills produce around 2.8 million tonnes of corrugated case materials and specialist industrial products annually. The majority of products are converted into board and boxes for packaging. The remaining produce is used for specialist papers. All products are made of recycled fibres and are 100% recyclable.
