Globus has been protecting people in industry and healthcare for over 30 years
Globus Group (Globus) is a world-leading personal protective equipment (PPE) manufacturer supplying the healthcare and industrial sectors. With humble origins in Shetland supplying gloves to salmon farmers, the company now has over three decades of experience supplying organizations across 98 different countries and four continents. The largest PPE manufacturer in the UK harbors bold ambitions of being the first choice for safety worldwide.
To begin our conversation, Group CEO Haraldur Agustsson reflects on the company’s continued success over the decades: “One factor that has contributed is that our customers and employees are at the heart of our business. We put people at the center of everything we do. We are proud to protect our customers in their working lives, equipping them to perform their roles safely and empowering them to do the best job possible. Our flexibility and ability to quickly adapt has also enabled us to deliver innovative solutions of the highest quality to the people that most need them.”
Haraldur goes on to outline the extensive range of products the business supplies: “Globus offers a complete solution for safety equipment and PPE, specializing in hand, eye, head, hearing, and respiratory protection as well as protective clothing. The solutions offered extend way beyond just products, with services like the 360 Program and a prescription eyewear portal designed to enhance safety right across a site or end-user business. The Globus 360 Safety Program is a free, no-obligation, tailor-made service to help assess and identify the specific PPE needs for a particular site or workplace. Our solutions are applicable to a diverse range of industries such as construction, oil and gas, healthcare, manufacturing and chemical.”
On top of significant recent successes, Globus began 2025 with a significant acquisition, Global Glove in the US, which has bolstered its international presence and expanded its production capabilities. Haraldur elaborates, highlighting the benefits the acquisition has brought to the company: “With excellent year-on-year growth, the joining of forces will provide Globus Americas with the infrastructure and sales support needed to take the business to a new level. The combined capability of both businesses enables us to offer a broader portfolio of products and services, with extensive stockholding. Our businesses have more than 50 years of experience in the global PPE manufacturing industry, and we will continue to bring expertise, quality, range, depth, and enhanced service to the market.”
The move represents a broader investment and growth strategy which has also seen significant investments made in the UK, as Haraldur explains: “Globus is investing heavily in manufacturing across multiple sites in the UK, Germany, Italy, USA, and has plans in place for Mexico. The business has a fully integrated UK manufacturing capability including a melt blown production facility. The key is to offer support and resilience, de-risking market forces and reducing the supply chain risk for our core partners across both industry and healthcare. With important lessons from the pandemic, appropriate PPE stock should be available to partners like the NHS on shorter lead times with lower reliance on supply from the Far East.
“We can stay at the cutting edge of innovation through our extensive research and development programs. In-house technical design, quality assurance and a
testing lab enable market leading, high-quality and reliable products. Innovation is one of our core values and we have launched over 50 new products in the last 18 months, with a strong pipeline planned for the year end.”
The company’s commitment to innovation extends beyond just the products it provides. One example which Haraldur outlines is the adoption of smart factory technologies to improve manufacturing efficiency and capabilities: “At the core of our approach is our upgraded ERP which is fully integrated with our product information management (PIM) which is now powered by AI. We have also undertaken the development of smart scanning technology for physical movement of products and components across the operation.”
Haraldur then concludes with a look to the future and the company’s ambitions as it moves forward towards 2026: “We have an extensive pipeline of new product innovation across all categories. Notable product launches across respiratory, head, and hand protection are planned for the rest of 2025. We are also actively seeking to expand our capability geographically through both organic growth and additional acquisitions.
“Moving ahead we will continue to build on our market leading position in the UK, while continuing to invest in and support our rapid growth in Europe, the US and Asia. We will drive operational effectiveness, reducing operational complexity for us and our customers to foster a culture of continuous improvement. We aim to further promote sustainable solutions with our work and partnership with SmartCarbon and collaborate across our upstream and downstream supply chain to reduce carbon impact. In simple terms our ultimate goal is to be the first choice for PPE and safety, worldwide.”