Yorkshire.com domain name attracts £20,000 bid in Welcome to Yorkshire asset auction

It is one of more than 160 website domain names owned by the company being offered to the highest bidder, while office furniture, televisions, phones and even bottles of wine are also being auctioned off as part of the administration process.

The deadline for buying the business outright is falling on Monday and administrators said that if the business is sold in its entireity or in various parts, then the auction - which is currently due run into the first week of April - is likely to be cancelled.

The company was put into administration at the start of the month after council leaders decided to stop funding the agency as part of a plan to set up a new destination management organisation.

Council leaders had been considering buying company assets such as its brand name but said today they could no longer comment when asked by The Yorkshire Post if they would be bidding for the business or anything it owns.

A spokesperson for the Yorkshire Leaders Board said: “The Yorkshire Leaders Board have signed a non-disclosure agreement with the administrator and therefore cannot discuss anything further until the process is completed.”

Among the assets being put up for sale is the Y Magazine that is produced by the tourism agency and the White Rose tourism awards it puts on.

Some items have already been listed for sale ahead of Monday’s deadline in an online auction being run by acting agent BPI Asset Advisory RICS.

The Yorkshire.com domain name, which has been described as “iconic” by administrators, is listed as having a current bid of £20,000 against it. The businessyorkshire.com website has attracted a bid of £100, as has cycleyorkshire.com. Five bids have been made for loveyorkshire.com, with the current total standing at £325.

The welcometoyorkshire.com domain name has attracted a bid of £250, while both whiteroseawards.com and whiteroseawards.co.uk have offers of £250 each.

But dozens of other website domain names are yet to receive any bids.

More than 200 items of IT and office equipment have also been put up for auction.

As well as office chairs, printers and laptops, some more unusual items are up for sale.

A chair shaped like a wooden spoon has attracted 15 bids up to a current £77, while six boxes of red and white wine have attracted three bids up to £12.

Auctioneers are also offering giant sculptures of Welcome to Yorkshire’s famous ‘Y’ logo.

A 10-ft high wooden version has attracted a bid of £25, with the same figure also bid separately for four perspex ‘Y’ sculptures that are all around seven-and-a-half foot tall.

Two 5-ft yellow coloured ‘Ys’ are also up for sale - one which has fetched a current bid of £12 and the other £10. A 4.5ft wooden ‘Y’ has received a bid of £10.

It is also possible to bid on a 12ft by 8ft sectional wall panel that depicts an award-winning Chelsea Flower Show garden created by WtY. It has received a £5 bid.

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