Business, Forwarding, Freight News


How forwarders helped British business battle the Brexit storm

[ June 23, 2026   //   ]

The British International Freight Association (BIFA) says its members played a vital in helping businesses adapt to Brexit ten years ago. The biggest upheaval in UK trading conditions for a generation Union changed largely frictionless trade into a far more complex process involving customs declarations, rules-of-origin paperwork, VAT and duty procedures, safety and security requirements, and, for many sectors, sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) controls.

For traders unfamiliar with these new obligations, the challenges were significant but BIFA members stepped up to provide the expertise, systems and support needed to keep supply chains moving and minimise disruption.

Over the past decade, freight forwarders have expanded customs brokerage operations, developed specialist post-Brexit logistics services, and invested heavily in technology and staff training. They have guided importers and exporters through continually evolving UK and EU regulations, helping businesses navigate new compliance requirements while reducing the risk of costly delays and border issues.

But forwarders, and the traders they serve, have faced increased paperwork, more inspections, higher compliance risks and rising operating costs. Groupage services have been particularly affected, with consolidated shipments requiring multiple customs entries and checks.

Developing effective systems, especially at non-inventory-linked ports such as Dover, demonstrated the scale of the challenge involved in creating and implementing new processes at speed.

The impact of Brexit has varied across sectors. Food, agricultural and live animal movements have faced some of the greatest hurdles as a result of enhanced biosecurity and sanitary controls.

Northern Ireland has become one of the most complex trading frontiers in Europe, requiring highly specialised expertise. Meanwhile, traders and logistics providers have had to adapt continually to changing guidance, new border processes and additional measures such as the EU’s Entry/Exit System and evolving environmental regulations.

While studies suggest UK–EU trade remains around 10–20% below the level it might have reached without Brexit, forwarding has transformed in response. UK-EU Customs and compliance services have become a core capability, while digitalisation has accelerated across the industry.

BIFA director general Steve Parker said:  “Brexit made UK–EU trade harder, more costly and more administratively demanding. But BIFA members helped make it manageable. Over the last ten years they have become indispensable partners to importers and exporters, providing the expertise, resilience and innovation needed to keep goods moving in a far more complex trading environment.”

He added: “For freight forwarders, Brexit has been less a story of collapse than of transformation. Like never before, it has demonstrated the strategic importance of freight forwarders’ work in the supply chains that underpin international visible trade.”

Meanwhile, Europa Worldwide Group chief executive Andrew Baxter – who played a prominent part in the Leave campaign said his company transformed a major challenge into competitive advantage, despite fierce criticism and even accusations of fraud from rivals.

He said that while many competitors complained about the complexities of leaving the customs union, Europa developed a solution to streamline the movement of goods between the UK and Europe, enabling thousands of UK exporters to maintain seamless trade.

He declared: “Life outside the customs union meant every shipment required export and import declarations, along with the need to onboard importers and charge them for duties, VAT and clearance fees,” said Baxter. “This had the potential to create major disruption. We tackled the problem head on and launched a solution that operated successfully for over a year before any competitor could replicate it.”

He says that Europa is now moves more than double the volume of its nearest competitor and handles over £12 billion of UK through its Delivered Duty Paid (DDP)  service.

Traditional shipping terms were typically Delivered Duty Uncleared (DDU), leaving the importer responsible for all clearance costs, duties and VAT. However, Europa’s DDP service placed full customs responsibility on the UK exporter.

Baxter says that many competitors dismissed DDP because UK exporters could not reclaim EU VAT, but by taking advantage of an existing EU customs regulation, Europa was able to cleas all continental European goods through France (apart from French-destined goods which are cleared in Belgium). This allows zero-rating of VAT and enables a seamless DDP offering that protects customers from friction and delays.

He says: “We developed something that many said was impossible. At first, competitors didn’t just doubt us – they accused us of non-compliance and even fraud. Some actively told our customers we would be shut down. The more they attacked us, the more determined we became – and the more market share we won.”

Baxter noted that it took competitors around three years to develop their own versions, which he claims still lag behind Europa’s solution. Today, the majority of UK exports to Europe move on a DDP basis, either through Europa or its competitors. Without this mechanism, Baxter believes UK–Europe trade would have suffered far greater damage.

Baxter hosted the launch event for the Leave campaign alongside Boris Johnson but says that his support was based on principle, not prior knowledge of any commercial workaround.

“I supported Brexit because I believed the UK should be an independent, self-governing nation,” he said. “I knew it would complicate my own business – and I had no special customs insight at the time. But that personal commitment to making Brexit work for our customers drove us to find a genuine solution rather than just complain about the problem.”

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