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The yard on the edge of Doncaster is quiet. The next Commercial Vehicle Auctions sale isn't for another week. A few employees take in the sunshine as they move the trucks around and just three people are in the offices doing administrative work.
It's in sharp contrast to auction day, when the car park is overflowing, the yard is alive with wheels and shoes pounding the hard-standing, and Charlie Wright holds court. He has to be sharp as people wave arms, nod or raise an eyebrow at him to bid  on the passing trucks.
With British Car Auctions and Manheim operating from a host of sites across the UK and Europe, and Fleet Auction Group pushing corporate responsibility from its state-of-the-art site in Leicestershire, you'd think CVA would be dwarfed or intimidated.

Keeping prices up
Think again. CVA's eight-acre Carr Hill site regularly stocks 450 vehicles per sale, the conversion rate is 54-57%, and sales regularly turn over 1m plus. No one site comes close. Wright explains: "We sell anything from a 200 Cargo to 40,000 tractors. We've got to advertise strongly to get the people through the door. What we're trying to do is attract more end customers - vendors and purchasers - to keep prices up," he says, emphasising that 'top dollar' is what it's all about.
"That benefits everybody. If prices are high at auction then prices are high everywhere, which can only help the finance houses and hauliers. It means the bank manager isn't going to be  on their back as their assets are holding up. If the prices are strong and your depreciation is low, it benefits you when you come to sell your truck."
With high numbers of stock at each sale, Wright has to keep things efficient: "It would be lovely to have a truck here and keep it till you sell it. But you can't afford to do it. We keep a truck here twice, then contact the vendor and tell them the best prices it has been fetching." It is then up to the owner whether to accept market value or collect the truck.
While trade has found business slack throughout 2006, the auction houses have prospered. When Manheim decided to go fortnightly at Leeds on a Thursday, it dovetailed nicely with CVA's fortnightly sales. "It's quite good really. We have Irish lads come over for Wednesday and stop over in Leeds for the Thursday sales," Wright smiles.

Export demand
Not that CVA is riding piggyback. The key to the success of the Ballyvesey Group subsidiary is a growing demand for export. "The market is expanding abroad and we're trying to pull more of that type of customer in. A lot of Polish lads are buying tippers - people recognise this and so we get tipper after tipper. Six months ago a tipper might be making 5,500; it's now 6,500 to 7,000," Wright adds.
The Sudanese market is another success story. Its government has extended its import duty system, allowing operators to pay it off over the first six months, to June. CVA assists fresh exporters by helping with the paperwork. "If a bloke from Zimbabwe shows up, buys a truck, and asks 'what do I do now?', we'll help arrange transportation. We will accommodate our overseas customers and work with them to get the vehicle back to their country," Wright says.
Added-value services mean exporters know they're in good hands. "We try to keep it simple to get the best prices we can and offer a service that is stress-free for the vendor and purchaser," he says. But working from one site is difficult.
"We're at capacity for physical auctions and are starting to look elsewhere for revenue. We're just completing our first tender sale, and we'll try to push that side on a bit," he says, adding that CVA will expand its plant sales as well as its work with finance houses - which currently accounts for about a third of its stock.
"Finance houses come to expect more, really, because everyone is fighting for their business. They like using paper," Wright jokes, before listing some of the services CVA provides: tracking documents, mileage, condition reports, and market value.
"With [residual] prices, hire companies tend to be more rigid - whereas recovered vehicles, where they know they have got it wrong, are happier to sell," he says.

Yard sales
Sales at operators' yards are also a target, but it's not consistent. "It comes in batches. You find that if you have one on a Saturday you get three or four on the strength of it," he says. With smaller fleets, Wright has persuaded some operators to put their stock into the Wednesday sale.
"We do a lot of valuations. If it's run-of-the-mill gear and it'll sell better at Doncaster, we'll strengthen the advertising, group it all together and make a special insert. It works well," he says.
Things have changed in the 16 years that Wright has been with the business, starting out in the yard before progressing to administration and cutting his auctioning teeth on tools. "Bids were like a fiver. I couldn't do any damage," he jokes.
He soon progressed to trucks and trailers, growing more established as people from his own generation became prevalent. "People like dealing with certain people. I can have a bloke ring here five or six times trying to get through, and when he does he says, 'leave the keys with the truck, Charlie; I'll be around tonight to get it'"
With Chris Wright now retired, Charlie becomes the sole Wright synonymous with CVA, which has maintained its traditional feel. "I'm still hands-on. I'll still go and peel the stickers off a truck - as long as it's sunny though." He has picked the right day.