Executive Hire News › Archives › November 2009 › Executive Report : Up for auction
Executive Report : Up for auction
Growing in popularity, Morris Leslie Ltd's equipment auctions are benefiting from the latest on-line technology. Alan Guthrie reports from its Tayside headquarters.
Morris Leslie Ltd’s auctions take place at its headquarters at Errol Airfield, approximately ten miles east of Perth. As well as holding four such events throughout the year for plant, equipment, tools and commercial vehicles, it stages car auctions twice weekly. And every Sunday it also holds a substantial car boot sale and market that typically attracts 10,000 visitors and claims to be the largest event of its kind in Scotland.
The organisation is part of the Morris Leslie Group, which has very diverse business interests including plant hire, machinery sales, property services, self-storage facilities, a tree nursery, and a hotel, as well as hire activities located near London and in south west and England, ranging from machinery to temporary site accommodation. The Group also owns Errol Airfield, acquired in 1988, and Perth Airport, which was bought nine years later.
MD Morris Leslie established the business 35 years ago soon after leaving agricultural college, chiefly buying and selling equipment locally. “Given the challenging market conditions faced by anyone considering going into farming, it seemed a good niche to develop. I quickly realised there was a market for good equipment amongst local landowners, farmers and construction professionals. The Group has since grown steadily by pursuing opportunities that have presented themselves. The first auctions were held at Errol 20 years ago and they continue to grow in popularity. We are finding that councils, utilities, larger contractors and other organisations are interested in acquiring plant that may be one or two years old but is in good condition. More buyers are also attending from Europe and the eastern bloc.”
Last month, the company introduced monthly on-line auctions, chiefly for repossessed equipment and liquidation stock, whereby people can view, and bid for, items over the Internet. These run for a fortnight and are similar to other on-line marketplaces. Internet bidding is now also a feature of the quarterly machinery auctions. Before a sale, potential buyers can see details and images of the lots on an on-line catalogue. During the auction itself, registered bidders can see items on their own computer screens, at the same time as they appear in the sales area, and their bids are relayed directly to the auctioneer. A live audio feed allows remote bidders to sample something of the atmosphere of the event and to hear the bidding process. “This effectively enables people to buy from anywhere with an Internet connection,” says Morris Leslie. “We also hold viewing sessions prior to auctions so that people can, if they wish, send local representatives to check out items of interest.”
At the auction EHN attended, many bids were indeed being placed via the Internet, competing with the several hundred people present on the site. Most had come from Scotland, and chiefly comprised contractors, utilities and other end users, with few hirers in attendance. The items on offer were many and varied, ranging from mixers, aluminium towers and pedestrian rollers, to mobile tower lighting, mini excavators, telehandlers and 25 tonne articulated dumper trucks. However, as machines were inevitably of different vintages, a hirer would need to check carefully to find items that might be appropriate additions to their fleets. This perhaps applies particularly to compact plant. Indeed, on page 21, our introductory article in this month’s Market Report emphasises the need to keep hire fleets up-to-date during challenging economic conditions.
Being so diverse, the Morris Leslie Group is well placed to combat any decline in any of its activities, and its Managing Director remains confident about the future. “We expect to complete another hire company acquisition very shortly, and we have recently added to our property portfolio in Edinburgh. A lot of people in the national media continue to talk things down, but there are still opportunities out there.” •
www.morrisleslie.com |
