Trading as Charter
Your industrial asset
partner since 2017.
Charter buys, sells, sources and values used manufacturing machinery for makers across global markets. One phone call, one named specialist, end to end.
Richard & James Tomlinson - Managing Directors
We've been trading as Charter since 2017 and launched the Charter Machinery brand in 2026 to bring our dealer activity under one roof. Same family, same team, sharper focus.
A short history
of the business.
Charter Auctions opens
We opened our doors as Charter Auctions, helping UK manufacturers move surplus kit through online and live industrial auctions. This is where the whole journey started.
Direct sales begin
We outgrew the office and moved into our first warehouse in Droitwich. For the first time we had the room to hold machines on site and buy and sell them direct, all run from a proper facility.
New Bromsgrove facility
We traded the Droitwich unit for a bigger, more modern site in Bromsgrove. The upgrade gave us far more storage and inspection space, and the headroom to take on bigger deals, from single machines to full factory clearances. Our biggest leap forward to date.
Charter Machinery launches
We launched Charter Machinery as our dealer-side brand, sitting inside our new Charter Commercial Group alongside Charter Auctions and 1st Tooling. Same family, same yard, sharper focus.
The team
you'll speak to.
James Tomlinson
Part of Charter
Commercial Group.
Charter Machinery is one of several brands inside Charter Commercial Group. The group is the umbrella for everything we do under the Charter name: dealer sales, timed online industrial auctions, secondhand tooling supply, and the Charter Network, the group's membership that puts the whole operation on standing call for member sites.
One team, one Bromsgrove-based operation, one shared customer base. Whether you're buying a Mazak, bidding on a workshop clearance, sourcing a tool, or calling on the Network, it's all Charter.
Charter Machinery
Direct sales of used industrial machinery. CNC machining centres, lathes, lasers, press brakes and the rest. One named specialist on every machine, and a global buyer network behind every deal.
Charter Auctions
Timed online auctions of manufacturing plant and machinery, from single lots to full site contents.
Visit Website1st Tooling
Secondhand machine tooling. We take in used tools from the machines we handle and resell them rather than letting them get scrapped, with 8,000+ in stock. New tools supplied on request too.
Visit WebsiteCharter Network
The group's membership: one number that always answers, jobs sorted, quotes checked, and your site's history held, across everything Charter does.
Visit WebsiteWhy we built
Charter Machinery.
UK manufacturing has been through it. We've seen it firsthand, working alongside manufacturers since 2017. Charter Machinery exists to be the support network the industry actually needs across the whole machinery lifecycle. One call, one named specialist, real answers, and a wider Charter Commercial Group behind us when the job goes further than the machine.
Whatever you need to keep the machines, and the business, running.
Valuations & appraisals
Market-grounded valuations, built on real comparable sales. Part of every sale with Charter, and available as a professional service through the group.
Buying & sourcing
Browse our live inventory or tell us what you need. We'll find it through our global network of sellers.
Selling & raising capital
Turn idle or surplus kit into cash. Auction, private treaty or direct sale, with terms agreed up front.
Machine moves & decommissioning
Rigging, transport, decommissioning, recommissioning. Handled end-to-end through Charter Commercial Group.
Engineering & training
Access to engineers, support contracts and operator training for the kit you buy and the kit you keep.
Asset finance
Through our group network: financing options for the machines you want to acquire without locking up working capital.