A pre-Brexit export experience for British manufacturers
European road freight specialist Europa Road explains how it has developed a shipping service for British exporters to lower transit times and costs with minimal administrative burden.
Despite being the fourth largest exporter in the world, trade experts at the British Chamber of Commerce believe that to keep the UK at the top table, we must still look at navigating the trade barriers with the EU.
With up to 90%of UK manufacturers still finding trade with the EU a challenge, innovative European road freight specialists are deploying new strategies to streamline their supply chains and ease the complexity on British businesses.
Solving this problem, European road freight specialist Europa Road has invested over £5 million in a shipping service for British exporters, called Europa Flow, to offer faster transit times, lower costs and no administrative headaches for UK manufacturers.
Adrian Redmile, Branch and Sales Director at Europa Worldwide Group, explained: “Many British manufacturers continue to express huge frustration with the complexity and costs involved with exporting to the EU in a post-Brexit climate.
“The administrative burden alone lengthens transit times, which has a domino effect for manufacturers relying on time-critical trade. Shippers need reassurance that their items will arrive by the agreed date. For many – particularly Just-in-time manufacturers – if deliveries are late or delayed, production at the destination facility might need to stop.
“Many manufacturers regularly export into EU countries but don’t necessarily have the customs infrastructure in those regions to tackle this extra administration. Europa Road recognises that brands need a cost-effective way of sorting customs clearance on both sides of the channel without necessarily having to hire specialist teams and customs brokers. So, we started investigating the technology to streamline the process.”
Europa Flow uses a combination of DDP incoterms, postponed VAT accounting and pre-logged declarations to manage all customs formalities so that manufactured goods are not delayed by additional paperwork or costs.
Adrian continued: “Immediately after Brexit, it seemed that many manufacturers would rather temporarily stop trading between the UK and the EU because of the additional complexity. Now, having moved more than 300,000 DDP shipments across the channel, we can officially say that there is a tangible, proven solution being used by manufacturers everywhere to speed things along.”
A manufacturer in Scotland recently welcomed the expansion of Europa’s DDP solution, Europa Flow, to Ireland. It stated: “The new DDP service from Europa has been well received by our current Irish customers, in that the admin burden imposed on them has significantly decreased. It has also reopened some customer conversations that have been closed since Brexit occurred.”
Europa Road, part of the UK’s largest independent logistics provider, Europa Worldwide Group, also offers a money-back guarantee option on all Europa Flow shipments. This unique offer will ensure full refunds for consignments not delivered on time.
The company received feedback from a just-in-time manufacturer in the Northwest, who said: “When we use Europa Flow, we are guaranteed a seamless flow of goods into EU countries without the hassle emanating from incomplete paperwork. Furthermore, with Europa Flow we are offered the company’s money-back guarantee, which gives us peace of mind, knowing that deliveries will meet an agreed delivery date.”
Europa Road, which operates Britain’s largest European groupage ‘1Hub’ in Dartford, now ships more than 56% of all network groupage exports using DDP. The 1Hub, which is strategically located close to the Dartford Crossing, provides scheduled, daily, road transport lines, which connect British customers’ shipments to its 42 partner hubs in mainland Europe.
