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    When a speck of soil becomes a business risk
    News

    When a speck of soil becomes a business risk

    28 September 2026

    Moving a used tractor from the UK into the EU has become a test of operational know-how as much as price. At Ritchie Bros.’ Maltby site, the operations team has turned a more complex export process into a routine one for customers – making expertise, not friction, the story.  

    [Maltby, The United Kingdom – 24 September 2026] - Sending a used tractor from a Yorkshire auction yard to an EU farm now takes three to four extra days, the wheels off, the engine covers removed, a DEFRA inspector checking every recess for traces of soil, and a stack of phytosanitary paperwork. Doing it without a hitch, every time, has become a skill in its own right – and one Ritchie Bros.’ Maltby operations team has spent a decade building.
    UK regulations governing the export of used agricultural machinery include strict biosecurity requirements that have turned a straightforward sale into complex expertise. Those rules apply to everyone exporting into Europe and other international markets – and increasingly it is the expertise around the transaction, not the machine itself, that decides whether a deal completes smoothly.
    “The friction is the same for everyone exporting into Europe; that part we can’t change,” says Rob Trewick, Ritchie Bros.’ Regional Operations Manager in the UK and Ireland. “What we can change is how smoothly a machine moves through it – knowing what an inspector will look for, what paperwork stands up, and how to keep a deal on schedule.”
    Rob Trewick, Regional Operations Manager for the UK & Ireland

    Rob Trewick, Regional Operations Manager for the UK & Ireland

    Knowing the process inside out

    That knowledge was hard-won. With little official guidance at the outset, the team pieced the requirements together itself and now guides customers through machine-condition rules, documentation and the inspection process – or handles the paperwork entirely.
    The same expertise covers the financial risk: on cross-border sales, unpaid VAT can leave the auction house exposed, so Ritchie Bros. works through a network of approved hauliers providing verified proof of export. For sellers, knowing that documentation, VAT compliance and buyer verification are handled by a team that does it every week gives confidence at the point of sale and protects the proceeds through to delivery.
    Long-standing customers value that service. HE Services, a specialist excavator-hire firm, has sold through Ritchie Bros. for three decades.
    “Ritchie Bros. are a very professional organisation – very efficient, and everything works very smoothly,” says Hugh Edeleanu, Chairman of HE Services. “We’re here for the long term and so are they – together it makes a very good partnership.”
    In used equipment, logistics is no longer simply a support function but a source of competitive advantage: how quickly, safely and correctly a machine moves shapes its timing, its price and the buyer’s confidence in the sale. Special, oversized and high-value machines raise the stakes further, demanding specialist coordination across transport, storage, inspection and export – the work where operational know-how, rather than administration, makes the difference.
    That expertise is most visible on the most demanding jobs. For older or high-value machines travelling long distances, the team containerises to remove the risk of an in-transit failure becoming a costly problem. Last year, a 125-tonne excavator bound for Egypt was stripped and loaded across six containers – two flat-racks for the main body, four standard for the rest – with the chains alone costing £7,000. The whole job was completed in three to four days.

    A market that has concentrated, not contracted

    Ritchie Bros.' own UK  auction figures show a market that has adapted, not retreated: around 61% of buyers over the past five years have been UK-based, a share that has held steady even as compliance friction grew, while annual volumes dipped in 2024 before recovering in 2025.
    Ireland has become a growing destination, rising from 6% of buyers in 2021 to 9% in 2026, and although continental-EU buyers now feature less often, demand has rebalanced rather than disappeared - the UK remains a core part of an international market that reaches across Europe and beyond.
    The takeaway is that, despite the obstacles, the success of cross-border transactions now turns on operational expertise and market knowledge: knowing the rules, managing the paperwork, and keeping machines moving.
    Thinking of selling? From inspection to payment, Ritchie Bros. handles every step — start here.
    *Ends*

    About Ritchie Bros.

    vRitchie Bros., an RB Global, Inc. (NYSE: RBA) (TSX: RBA) company, is a global asset management and disposition company, offering customers end-to-end solutions for buying and selling used heavy equipment, trucks and other assets. Operating in a number of sectors, including construction, transportation, agriculture, energy, mining, and forestry, the company's selling channels include: Ritchie Bros. Auctioneers, the world's largest industrial auctioneer offering auction events with online bidding; IronPlanet, an online marketplace with weekly featured auctions and providing the exclusive IronClad Assurance® equipment condition certification; Marketplace-E, a controlled marketplace offering multiple price and timing options; and Mascus, a leading European online equipment listing service. For more information about Ritchie Bros., visit rbauction.com or for more information on RB Global, visit rbglobal.com.

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