A report by Aston University Business School has found that Brexit red tape has caused goods trade between the UK and EU to slump – a problem which is getting worse for British producers.
With many Scottish businesses still feeling the sting of this new bureaucracy, there is huge potential for growth if these burdens can be eased. One logistics provider based at Eurocentral in Glasgow, sees these challenges daily but is working hard to ease the burden and help get Britain moving.
The report states that between 2021 and 2023, UK goods exports to the EU were down 27 percent, with businesses giving up on exporting consignments to some EU nations after facing more ‘regulatory burdens’, complex paperwork and significantly longer transit times.
A small furniture business said: “Like so many British businesses in need of road freight services, we have struggled with Brexit and all the delays and red tape it has brought.
“We had a fairly strong customer base in Europe that we all but lost because of all the problems.”
Andrew Baxter, Chief Executive Officer at Europa Worldwide Group, explained: “This report is a stark reminder to logistics companies that more is needed to better support our British producers and traders.
“These are businesses who traded regularly with EU countries before Brexit. Yet nearly five years on from the UK leaving the EU officially, due to the additional work and cost associated with the red tape, these businesses have given up on trying to feasibly reach their European markets.”
To reset the trading relationship, Europa has invested heavily in its customs support infrastructure in years since Brexit, developing innovative Delivery Duty Paid (DDP) technology and bettering its customer service.
Europa Road, the European road freight division of Europa Worldwide Group, is easing the pain with an established customs support infrastructure and guaranteed pre-Brexit delivery times.
To reinforce its customs infrastructure, Europa Road launched its innovative service Europa Flow in 2021, which uses a combination of DDP, postponed VAT accounting and pre-logged declarations to ease the administrative burden for exporters.
Investing more than £5 million in the technology, Europa Flow ensures goods are not delayed by additional paperwork and customers aren’t faced with 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.
The small business continued: “Europa has single handedly and with the patience of a saint, helped us overcome the problems and our fears of exporting to Europe.”
Andrew continued: “At a time when British exporters continue to face significant additional complexities of paying import duties, VAT and customs clearances post-Brexit, Europa Flow combines advanced technology with customs expertise on both sides of the channel, providing support to British businesses exporting to the EU.
“Through our network of sales branches across the UK and Ireland, which manage shipments of goods into our Dartford 1Hub11Hufrom, all freight goes on to connect with daily, direct services to a partner network of 42 continental hubs.
“Reinforced with teams of customs experts on both sides of the Channel, we are offering guaranteed transit times to France in 2 days, Hungary in 4.1 days, Italy in 3.9 days, Denmark in 3.5 days and Germany in 3.1 days.”
Andrew concludes: “In a post-Brexit, post-pandemic climate, British exporters are constantly battling economic and financial headwinds and growing consumer pressure in a competitive market. So, they recognise that they cannot gamble their reputations by risking delays to deliveries emanating from incomplete paperwork, or disputes over the payment of VAT and customs duties.
“While Europa Flow is proven in removing these issues, our Money Back Guarantee as an additional service for Europa Flow users to offer that peace of mind.”
Europa Road provides market leading European road freight services, its Glasgow site is at Eurocentral, one of Scotland’s largest industrial and logistics hubs. The branch relocated there in December 2022.
Europa Road 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.