Speedy Freight’s Aimee Spilsbury shares post-Brexit Christmas advice with FleetPoint

In a recent article on the FleetPoint website, Aimee answered five important questions posed by freight businesses this festive season.

Speedy Freight currently has over 2,500 vans on the road and offers its customers a diverse range of fulfilment options, meaning there’s no company better placed to offer advice on this topic than the courier and delivery franchise. In the words of FleetPoint’s Mark Salisbury, “The 52,000 vacancies in the transport and storage industry, mainly HGV drivers, have put an immense strain on imports this Christmas season, but it is not the only problem that businesses are facing.

Mark continued, “In an ONS survey, 47% of respondents cited a change in transportation costs being a factor that affected their imports in the last year. Meanwhile, 40% of businesses mentioned additional paperwork and 32% said that customs duties and levies were issues that affected imports. With the second phase of Brexit occurring in January, these issues will only become more pronounced. That is why Aimee Spilsbury at Speedy Freight has revealed the best advice for businesses to prepare for a post-Brexit Christmas.” Aimee answered the following questions:

• What does Brexit Phase 2 mean for me? - Imports must be declared “immediately upon entry into the UK” and “from January 2022, cargo will be admitted to the British ports via the pre-lodgement or temporary storage model”.
• Will you need paperwork to import stock from the EU? - Yes, drivers “will need to have a passport”, “the currency of the destination country” and “customs declaration paperwork”, and no order “must be shipped until your delivery company has customs authorisation”.
• Will there be additional charges? - “Certain goods being transported will be subject to a duty charge. To pay these additional charges, you must have a duty deferment account set up so that you can pay the HMRC and get your goods cleared through customs.”
• How should you prepare for increased order volume? - According to Aimee, “Businesses should have already ordered additional stock for the Christmas sales, but they may also want to make sure their supply chain can handle the increased activity efficiently. This could be as simple as notifying suppliers in advance.”
• What is the “Post-Christmas Bump”? - Boxing day and January sales “will see just as much consumer interest” as Christmas, so these post-Xmas sales “could be a good opportunity to sell any additional stock”, and preparing for that eventuality is important.

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