Canadian auction firm to establish UK base with £1.6m South Yorkshire facility

Work has started on a £1.6m plant auction facility at a former colliery in South Yorkshire on behalf of an international machinery specialist.

Construction has begun on a new plant and machinery auction facility at the Maltby Colliery in Rotherham on behalf of Candian firm Ritchie Bros.

Ritchie Bros. was founded in Canada in 1958 as a family-owned auction company. In 1987 the company moved to Europe, and now auction facilities across the world including the Middle East, Australia, Japan and the US.

The firm’s first UK-based purpose-built auction facility, the development will include a 15,000 sq ft auction building with a public sales auditorium.

In addition, the site will feature a four-acre small lot yard, as well as 5,000 sq ft of office space with a registration area, auction back up and UK head office facility.

Rupert Craven, sales director at Ritchie Bros UK, commented: “We are very pleased with the plans put together by Edward Architecture and cannot wait to welcome our customers at our new facility once it’s complete.

“At Ritchie Bros., we are dedicated to providing our customers with the best buying and selling experience possible and this site provides a great central location for equipment storage and inspection—even when all our auctions are virtual during the COVID-19 pandemic.”

Edward Architecture helped agree the specification, site layout and building design as part of the original planning submission.

Graham Edward, managing director at Edward Architecture, added: “We are delighted to help facilitate and design the first purpose-built plant auction facility in the UK for such a prestigious, international auctioneer as Ritchie Bros.

“It’s fantastic to bring this unique and exciting development to Maltby, designed to conduct large multi-day auctions.

“Ritchie Bros. has auction facilities around the globe so it’s great that they have added Maltby with its long, rich heritage to its list of high-profile locations.”