What Global Robots does

Global Robots is a UK-headquartered industrial robot company founded in 2002 and based in Marston Moretaine, Bedfordshire. The company specializes in the sourcing, refurbishment, and resale of second-hand industrial robots and spare parts from major OEMs (ABB, FANUC, KUKA, Kawasaki, Motoman, with service coverage also extending to Yaskawa and Staubli). Its core technical competency is a multi-stage refurbishment workflow encompassing mechanical and electrical assessment, component replacement, motion and load testing, controller servicing with up to 16 hours of testing, electrical safety checks, OEM benchmarking, and final certification — yielding refurbished units sold at an estimated 40-60% discount to new OEM pricing with a standard 90-day parts warranty (extendable to 12 months). The company holds 1,200+ robots in inventory across the UK and continental Europe, and positions itself as one of the largest used industrial robot dealers globally.

The business operates five integrated revenue streams: (1) one-time sale of refurbished robots at price points ranging from approximately £9,500 to £48,000 depending on payload class; (2) spare parts sales covering motors, encoders, controllers, servo drives, circuit boards, cables, and teach pendants; (3) servicing, repair, and maintenance including on-site UK engineer dispatch and emergency call-outs; (4) refurbishment and custom-build services for customers' own robots; and (5) a robot buyback/trade-in program that feeds the supply pipeline. Distribution is exclusively direct: no e-commerce checkout, with all orders routed through [email protected] and a phone-based consultative sales process. The company serves manufacturers across automotive (welding, body-in-white), aerospace, machine tending, material handling, palletising, painting, cutting, assembly, and related use cases, with customers located in the UK, Germany, Spain, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, the USA, India, and Singapore.

The company is privately held by management/founders (registered as Global Robots Ltd, company number 5156202), with no disclosed institutional investment, subsidiaries, or acquisition activity. Marketing combines SEO/content marketing, a BTCC motorsport sponsorship with TeamHARD, and word-of-mouth referrals. With 11-50 employees, the business is a specialized, bootstrapped industrial trader whose competitive position rests on inventory scale, legacy-parts expertise, and one-stop service breadth rather than technology differentiation or recurring-revenue contracts.

Name

Global Robots

Legal name

Global Robots Ltd

Website

https://globalrobots.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2002

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Global Robots is a UK-based industrial robot dealer that refurbishes and resells second-hand ABB, FANUC, KUKA, Kawasaki, and Motoman robots, spare parts, and servicing to manufacturing and automotive customers worldwide at 40-60% below new OEM pricing.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Refurbished Industrial Robots

NAICS

All Other Miscellaneous General Purpose Machinery Manufacturing (333998)

SIC

General Industrial Machinery & Equipment (3560), Special Industry Machinery (No Metalworking Machinery) (3550)

akta.pro primary industry

Industrial Robots (Articulated, SCARA, Delta, Cartesian) (IMAHAHAA)

akta.pro secondary industries

Industrial & Warehouse Robotics (HDAAAIAA), Industrial Robotics & Cobots (IMAIAMAB)

Keywords

• Used industrial robots
• Robot refurbishment services
• Robotic spare parts
• Robotic systems integration
• Robot servicing repairs

Headquarters

HQ city

Bedford

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

Supply Chain, Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. Used & Refurbished Robot Sales: Primary revenue stream from sourcing, refurbishing, and reselling second-hand industrial robotic arms and robots from ABB, FANUC, KUKA, Kawasaki, and Motoman. Robots are sold individually with pricing from approximately £9,500 to £48,000 depending on model and configuration.
2. Spare Parts Sales: Sale of spare parts for industrial robots including motors, encoders, controllers, servo drives, circuit boards, and teach pendants. Parts are sourced from inventory and supplied as working-on-arrival with warranty coverage.
3. Servicing, Repair & Maintenance: Preventive maintenance, emergency repairs, and troubleshooting services for industrial robots. Services include on-site and off-site repair options, routine inspections, motor and software diagnostics, lubrication, axis calibration, and emergency call-outs for UK-based businesses.
4. Refurbishment & Custom-Build Services: Full robot refurbishment services restoring aged robots to optimal condition, including controller refurbishment with software customisation, I/O configuration, and custom-built refurbished robots tailored to customer specifications.
5. Robot Buyback & Trade-In: The company purchases used robots from customers globally, offering competitive buyout prices, trade-in options for customers upgrading to refurbished units, and arranging safe insured collection worldwide.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Global Robots sources, inspects, fully refurbishes, and resells second-hand industrial robots and spare parts from major brands (ABB, FANUC, KUKA, Kawasaki, Motoman). The company also provides robot refurbishment, on-site and off-site servicing/repair, robotic systems integration (welding, palletising, painting, machine tending, assembly, cutting, etc.), and a buyback/trade-in service for used robots, serving manufacturing customers worldwide.

Product overview

Global Robots is a UK-based supplier of used and refurbished industrial robots offering a comprehensive portfolio of automation solutions. The core offering includes second-hand robots from ABB, FANUC, and KUKA brands, complemented by spare parts, robotic systems integration (covering 3D printing, palletising, pick & place, welding, painting, cutting, assembly, grinding, deburring, polishing, gluing, sealing, and machine tending), refurbishment services, and robot servicing/repair. The company also operates a robot buyback program. All robots undergo thorough inspection, testing, and reconditioning before sale with a standard 90-day parts warranty.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Used and Refurbished Industrial Robots High-quality second-hand and fully refurbished industrial robots from leading brands including ABB, FANUC, and KUKA. Robots are thoroughly inspected, reconditioned, tested, and repainted before sale, offered at a fraction of the cost of new equipment. Pricing ranges from approximately £9,500 to £48,000 depending on model and configuration. Sold to manufacturing and industrial automation businesses globally.
• Robot Spare Parts Extensive selection of spare parts for industrial robots including motors, encoders, controllers, servo drives, cables, circuit boards, and teach pendants. Parts are sourced for ABB, FANUC, KUKA, and other brands, with global shipping available. Supplied as working-on-arrival with warranty coverage.
• Robotic Systems Integration
• Robot Refurbishment Services Comprehensive refurbishment services for ABB, KUKA, and FANUC robots including mechanical and electrical inspection, component replacement (motors, cables, batteries, bearings, seals), full motion and load testing, electrical safety checks, and final certification. Controllers are fully cleaned, fans replaced where necessary, new batteries fitted, and fresh filter foam installed, with controllers undergoing up to 16 hours of testing. Software customisation and I/O configuration included; custom-built refurbished robots tailored to customer specifications available.
• Robot Servicing and Repair Preventive maintenance, emergency repairs, and troubleshooting services for industrial robots, with on-site and off-site repair options. Coverage spans ABB, KUKA, FANUC, Yaskawa, Motoman, Kawasaki, and Staubli brands. Services include routine inspections, motor and software diagnostics, lubrication, axis calibration, and emergency call-outs for UK-based businesses. Phone support provided for remote software reset assessment before engineer dispatch.
• Robot Buyback and Trade-In Service Service allowing customers to sell their used industrial robots to Global Robots. The company offers competitive pricing, quick payments via bank transfer, trade-in options for customers upgrading to refurbished units, and hassle-free worldwide collection of single robots or entire fleets with insured transport. Four-step process: enquiry, assessment and quote, collection arrangement, and prompt payment.

Quantifiable outcome

• Customers save 40-60% compared to purchasing new industrial robots
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers4 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature1 record

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• TeamHARDminorGTM or Marketing Partner · 1 January 2021Global Robots sponsors the TeamHARD racing team in the British Touring Car Championship (BTCC), with driver Aron Taylor-Smith representing the Global Robots brand on the Cupra Leon. The sponsorship provides brand visibility through motorsport, vehicle branding, and driver blog content published on the Global Robots website.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• RobotWorx: US-based integrator and dealer of new and reconditioned industrial robots from FANUC, ABB, KUKA, and Motoman. Directly comparable as a multi-brand used/refurbished robot dealer with similar product breadth and integration services.
• Eurobots: Spanish-based dealer of second-hand and refurbished industrial robots and spare parts from ABB, KUKA, FANUC, and Motoman. Direct peer operating in the same used-robot resale niche with similar multi-brand coverage and European footprint.
• Akin Robot: Turkey-based supplier of used and refurbished industrial robots and spare parts. Directly competes in the same secondary-market dealer space with overlapping OEM coverage (ABB, KUKA, FANUC).

Emerging players

• RoboTeq: Provider of motion control and robotics components, with adjacent positioning in industrial robot motor/drive supply chains that intersect with Global Robots' spare parts business.

Broad incumbents

• ABB Robotics: One of the largest industrial robot OEMs globally, with its own certified pre-owned and refurbishment programs. Overlaps with Global Robots as both an upstream supplier of used ABB robots and a potential competitor in the certified refurbishment space.
• FANUC America: Major industrial robot OEM offering new robots, certified pre-owned programs, and parts/services. Comparable as a broad incumbent whose products Global Robots refurbishes and resells, and whose certified programs compete with Global Robots' offerings.
• KUKA Robotics: German-headquartered industrial robot OEM with global installed base. Supplies the underlying robots Global Robots refurbishes and competes with through its own refurbishment and lifecycle service programs.
• Yaskawa (Motoman): Japanese industrial robot OEM with significant North American presence. Both an upstream supplier of used Motoman robots to Global Robots and a broad incumbent offering certified pre-owned alternatives.
• Kawasaki Robotics: Japanese industrial robot OEM with active European and US operations. Both a supplier of used Kawasaki robots to Global Robots' refurbishment pipeline and a broad incumbent with its own certified pre-owned offerings.

Others

• Surplex: European industrial auction house and used-machinery dealer with adjacent exposure to decommissioned industrial equipment. Thematically related as a channel for used industrial assets but not a direct robotics specialist.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks7 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/globalrobots
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/global-robots-ltd

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles5 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Global Robots