The European road freight division of Europa Worldwide Group, Europa Road, is tackling the challenges of Brexit red tape head on as it works hard to get Britain moving by developing innovative new products and services that deliver a frictionless flow of goods between the UK and the EU.
According to a recent survey by the British Chamber of Commerce, 45 per cent of UK businesses find customs procedures the top barrier for exporting to the EU. Other top barriers cited included export documentation, regulations and standards, and tariffs.
To support its customers, Europa Road has invested heavily in its customs support infrastructure in the years since Brexit, developing its market-first DDP product - Europa Flow - and improving its customer service.
Tom Archer, Branch Manager of Europa Road in Dartford, comments: “For smaller to mid-sized operations who might not have their own customs entities or specialist finance teams to tackle their customs admin inhouse, our infrastructure is protecting their trade from Britain to the EU, ensuring the movement of consignments is as seamless as possible. We have customs experts on both sides of the Channel, offering guaranteed transit times to all leading EU destinations including France, Italy, Denmark and Germany.”
One success story is Tyson London, who have been working with Europa for the past seven years and adopted Europa’s seamless shipping service Europa Flow in 2021. Having experienced delayed shipments, extensive administrative and customs paperwork, plus increased duty payments due to Brexit, Europa Flow has transformed Tyson London’s exporting.
Tyson Bennison, Director at Tyson London, commented: “We create lighting, furniture and accessories for the world’s best interior designers and, each item is bespoke and handcrafted in our UK workshop. We service time-sensitive projects for leading interior designers and decorators so when Brexit came into force, we were left in a really challenging situation.
“Like many smaller-sized businesses, the additional fees, extensive customs paperwork and delayed shipments hit us really hard and resulted in us losing some of our key customers.
We ship low-volume consignments of high value and found the best way to transport our goods safely was on pallets. We need to serve our customers with efficiency, reliability and with the highest level of care and security. We’ve found that palletisation ensures goods aren’t damaged in transit.”
Investing more than £5 million in the technology, Europa Flow ensures customers aren’t faced with additional paperwork or unexpected additional fees. With more than 50 per cent of Europa’s groupage exports now using DDP, the company has been able to guarantee pre-Brexit delivery times for its consignments.
Bennison continued: “After discovering Europa Flow, we met with Road Account Manager, James from Dartford. With the knowledge and support from him and his team, we are working towards retaining and attracting both old and new customers. James has created a strong and reliable line of communication for us to guarantee we have constant information and support.
“It is paramount that our goods are delivered on time and in one piece, which has previously been a sticking point, but with the support of the Europa team our goods are transported seamlessly and carefully. We communicate with Europa teams on both sides of the Channel which guarantees smooth transit over to the EU.
“We have also had great support for last minute shipments, which has ensured our customers don’t have to experience any pain points associated with Brexit. We’ve had an exceptional service from Europa as we’re able to now guarantee delivery times to the high-end development systems we service, a crucial element to supporting our customers. We’re working to rebuild our customer base and Europa’s service is ensuring we can do this.”
Europa is strategically located close to the Dartford Crossing, operating the UK’s largest European groupage 1Hub in Dartford, Kent. The operator is one of the largest commercial users of the Eurotunnel and makes more than 30,000 journeys annually into the EU from the British terminal in Folkstone.
