China’s Robot Army is Revolutionising UK Retail Warehouses
Every time you click “buy” online, the product often starts its journey in the hands – or rather wheels – of a Mitsubishi‑grade machine that lifts and moves shelves across a warehouse.
In the eastern Chinese city of Hefei, Geek+ engineers have built a fleet of autonomous mobile robots that are now widely deployed in the UK, where leading supermarkets such as Tesco, Asda and Next use them to boost picking speeds and store hard‑to‑reach goods.
Unlike fixed conveyor‑based systems, Geek+ robots navigate via QR‑code floor markers and safety fencing, making them quick to set up and easy to integrate into existing warehouses. They can lift entire pallets, carry shelves and return to a charging station, all while reporting data back to a central management system that guides the next batch of tasks.
The UK’s long‑standing sluggish productivity growth has left economists pointing to robotics as a key lever for efficiency. A 2026 OECD report highlighted that, even with a strong manufacturing heritage, the UK lags behind other industrialised economies in robotics adoption.
MotionTech, Geek+’s UK partner, now manages more than 2,000 robots across ten warehouse sites. “We need fast deployable solutions that have a small footprint and reduce headcount,” says their account director, Barry Pemberton.
The Trades Union Congress (TUC) urges that automation be deployed to raise worker productivity, not simply cut labour costs. They call for retraining programmes and inclusive policy making to keep the workforce engaged as automation grows.
China’s robotics surge dovetails with its focus on electric‑vehicle technology. Shared components – batteries, motors, cameras and sensors – built for EVs are now applied to robots, creating overlap between two high‑growth industries. This synergy fuels companies like Xpeng, which have launched humanoid robots following their success in cars.
While wheeled robots already save cost and reduce errors, humanoids still have a distant horizon. They promise to work in the human‑designed spaces of factories and hospitals, but are currently too expensive for mass deployment in warehouses where precise picking algorithms already suffice.
For the UK, the future of automation lies in end‑to‑end unmanned warehouse solutions that will automate picking, handling and packing. Geek+ is already exploring this direction, and the UK’s low‑productivity, labour‑shortage environment provides an impetus for rapid adoption of robotics.
