Tag Archive for Export & Logistics

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Top five tips for SME exporters in a post-Brexit world

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By Nick Ismail on Small Business – Advice and Ideas for UK Small Businesses and SMEs

According to research from DHL Express, 24% of UK SME exporters who already export or plan to in the future state they have stopped selling to some EU markets, with 6% of British businesses stating they have stopped selling to EU-markets altogether. 

The research looked at the challenges facing small businesses in all sectors across the UK and paints a nuanced picture. When asked if they thought they’d export more or less over the next year compared to the previous 12 months, SME exporters were completely divided, as 25% forecast an increase while 28% anticipate a decrease.

Since 1 January 2021 a number of exporting incentives, such as the SME Brexit Support Fund, have been on offer from the government. The research found that, while 30% of exporters surveyed believed these support measures were helpful, a significant 24% were not aware of their existence, indicating some small and medium sized businesses may be missing out on important trading opportunities. 

Lack of consumer awareness of the additional Customs charges is reported as a concern, with nearly half of exporters stating it was a challenge. However, despite this, only 28%

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Hot Business News Today

Top five tips for SME exporters in a post-Brexit world

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Originally written by Nick Ismail on Small Business
According to research from DHL Express, 24% of UK SME exporters who already export or plan to in the future state they have stopped selling to some EU markets, with 6% of British businesses stating they have stopped selling to EU-markets altogether.
The research looked at the challenges facing small businesses in all sectors across the UK and paints a nuanced picture. When asked if they thought they’d export more or less over the next year compared to the previous 12 months, SME exporters were completely divided, as 25% forecast an increase while 28% anticipate a decrease.
Since 1 January 2021 a number of exporting incentives, such as the SME Brexit Support Fund, have been on offer from the government. The research found that, while 30% of exporters surveyed believed these support measures were helpful, a significant 24% were not aware of their existence, indicating some small and medium sized businesses may be missing out on important trading opportunities.
Lack of consumer awareness of the additional Customs charges is reported as a concern, with nearly half of exporters stating it was a challenge. However, despite this, only 28% of businesses have proactively alerted customers to the

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What can I do if an EU customer refuses delivery of goods sold?

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Originally written by Christophe Pecoraro on Small Business
What’s changed with exports to an EU customer post Brexit?
The most significant changes come as a result of the UK’s exit from the single market and the customs union. Any EU customer buying products from a UK-based retailer are now subject to charges comprising import duties plus courier or postal handling fees. Naturally, the opposite of this is also true, with additional paperwork and costs applying to British consumers purchasing goods from Europe.
Unfortunately, consumer standards are not going to relax whilst retailers find ways of adapting to these new rules. Workarounds do exist and are readily being adopted. But the customs charges and extra paperwork have significantly increased the complexity and cost of shipping products in and out of the EU.
In addition to unwelcome delays, all the added cost has to go somewhere. For businesses that have been unable to cover this themselves, many have had to pass this onto the end consumer. In a period where consumers are expecting online shopping to compensate entirely for the high street experience, these effects are accumulating to a lot of unhappy customers. Suffice to say, for smaller businesses attempting to contend with the likes of

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Small businesses selling into EU face £180m in extra red tape costs

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Originally written by Timothy Adler on Small Business
Small businesses that sell into Europe face £180m in extra red tap costs as they get swept up in new EU One-Stop-Shop VAT rules.
The new EU One-Stop-Shop rules, which will be introduced on July 1, are designed to stop an estimated designed to stop an estimated €7bn in annual VAT fraud by non-EU ecommerce sellers, mainly located in China, according to Alavera.
However, the EU One-Stop-Shop changes remove remove VAT exemptions for SMEs and shipments not exceeding €22 (£19), which means about 26,000 UK e-commerce sellers will have to register for VAT in an EU member state for the first time.
>See also: Where to find your £2,000 Brexit Support Fund grant
This will cost a majority of these companies at least €8,000 (£6,900) a year each, or roughly €208m (£180m) annually.
“Now we’re outside of the EU, [the UK has] been lobbed in with VAT-avoiding Chinese traders, and ecommerce companies will pay the price,” Richard Asquith, vice-president global indirect tax at Avalera, told the Financial Times.
UK e-commerce sellers will now have three options when trading into the EU:

Register for VAT in the country where they sell most of their goods, which the European Commission estimates will

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Hot Business News Today

Small businesses selling into EU face £180m in extra red tape costs

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Originally written by Timothy Adler on Small Business
Small businesses that sell into Europe face £180m in extra red tap costs as they get swept up in new EU One-Stop-Shop VAT rules.
The new EU One-Stop-Shop rules, which will be introduced on July 1, are designed to stop an estimated designed to stop an estimated €7bn in annual VAT fraud by non-EU ecommerce sellers, mainly located in China, according to Alavera.
However, the EU One-Stop-Shop changes remove remove VAT exemptions for SMEs and shipments not exceeding €22 (£19), which means about 26,000 UK e-commerce sellers will have to register for VAT in an EU member state for the first time.
>See also: Where to find your £2,000 Brexit Support Fund grant
This will cost a majority of these companies at least €8,000 (£6,900) a year each, or roughly €208m (£180m) annually.
“Now we’re outside of the EU, [the UK has] been lobbed in with VAT-avoiding Chinese traders, and ecommerce companies will pay the price,” Richard Asquith, vice-president global indirect tax at Avalera, told the Financial Times.
UK e-commerce sellers will now have three options when trading into the EU:

Register for VAT in the country where they sell most of their goods, which the European Commission estimates will

Read more...

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How to minimise gaps in your supply chain post Brexit

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Originally written by Daniel Baker on Small Business
Since the final Brexit deadline on December 31, businesses across the UK have had to quickly become familiar with the new trade deal and adapt their supply chain accordingly.
Unsurprisingly, this has not been without disruption.
With a shortage of trucks and hauliers available to transport goods across the border and gaps in understanding of the new legislation across the supply chain, the first two months following Brexit have proven incredibly challenging for many British businesses.
>See also: Half of small business exporters struggling with new rules post Brexit
At Origin, we import some of the parts used to manufacture our aluminium doors and windows from the EU, so access to these materials was our primary concern following the announcement of the deal. Like many businesses, we had plans in place for a host of possible scenarios in anticipation of this, many of which have proven invaluable in the months following the deadline.
However, as Covid-19 taught us in 2020, it’s impossible to prepare for all eventualities, and we have found ourselves having to quickly pivot operations in some areas of the business in order to adapt to the impacts of Brexit that we hadn’t anticipated.
‘The first two

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How to minimise gaps in your supply chain post Brexit

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Originally written by Daniel Baker on Small Business
Since the final Brexit deadline on December 31, businesses across the UK have had to quickly become familiar with the new trade deal and adapt their supply chain accordingly.
Unsurprisingly, this has not been without disruption.
With a shortage of trucks and hauliers available to transport goods across the border and gaps in understanding of the new legislation across the supply chain, the first two months following Brexit have proven incredibly challenging for many British businesses.
>See also: Half of small business exporters struggling with new rules post Brexit
At Origin, we import some of the parts used to manufacture our aluminium doors and windows from the EU, so access to these materials was our primary concern following the announcement of the deal. Like many businesses, we had plans in place for a host of possible scenarios in anticipation of this, many of which have proven invaluable in the months following the deadline.
However, as Covid-19 taught us in 2020, it’s impossible to prepare for all eventualities, and we have found ourselves having to quickly pivot operations in some areas of the business in order to adapt to the impacts of Brexit that we hadn’t anticipated.
‘The first two

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Half of small business exporters struggling with new rules post Brexit

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Originally written by Timothy Adler on Small Business
Half of mainly small business exporters that send goods into the EU are facing difficulties trading post Brexit.
For manufacturers the problems are just as bad, with 51 per cent finding life exporting to Europe more difficult after Brexit, according to a British Chambers of Commerce survey.
Overall, nearly one third of businesses (30 per cent) surveyed said they found trading more difficult in January following Britain’s exit from the EU.
>See also: Half a million businesses at risk of collapse without more support
The main problems cited by exporters over Brexit were increased administration, costs, delays and confusion over what rules to follow.
In particular, the BCC would like to see firms be able to write off what they spend on extra admin and customs costs against their tax bill, and for the government to push back against the EU imposing extra health checks on food and animal exports from April, as well as full customs checks from July.
The BCC would also like to see the EU and UK government work together to try and minimise unhelpful burdens, including aspects of rules of origin and VAT.
The research is the first large survey of how companies are coping

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How to avoid paying £130,000 in VAT registration fees if you export to EU

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Originally written by Timothy Adler on Small Business
Businesses selling goods into Europe face having to pay for VAT registration in all 26 EU countries, costing up to £130,000.
Britain left the EU on January 1 and small businesses now have to register for VAT in each country they sell directly to customers in. Plus they will need to have a physical business representative in each country, and not just be brass-plate company.
Given that it costs between £3,000 and £5,000 to register for VAT per EU country, small businesses could be left with a bill of £130,000 just for the right to pay VAT in each territory.
>See also: Local authorities blame government for slow release of Covid-19 grants
Sean Glancy, VAT and indirect taxes partner at accountant UHY Hacker Young, said: “The risk here is that a UK business moving goods to consumers in, for example, Germany, Italy and Austria would have to register for VAT in all of these countries. If that multiplies across Europe, that is a lot of registrations, time, resource, and cost.”
The good news is that this is only until July 1, when the EU will bring in a one-stop-shop for VAT registration throughout Europe, which means UK businesses

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Europe’s small businesses call for three-month post-Brexit transition period

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Originally written by Timothy Adler on Small Business
Companies need a minimum three-month transition period for new regulation, even if a Brexit deal is agreed, say Europe’s small businesses.
SMEunited, the organisation which represents small businesses at an EU level, say businesses need a phased introduction to trading with Britain post-EU.
In order to allow SMEs necessary preparation time for new customs rules, transport requirements, phytosanitary tests and more, a phased three-month transition is required, says SMEunited. Otherwise, the new conditions will have serious repercussions for SMEs on both sides of the Channel.
>See also: How Brexit is going to affect your business – #1 imports
SMEunited warned many SMEs are struggling to adapt to the changing status of the EU-UK relationship. SMEunited has been encouraging its members to inform SMEs of the changes to EU-UK trade conditions, such as new customs rules and transport requirements.
Craig Beaumont, chief of external affairs at the Federation of Small Businesses said: “Some border checks and payment rules are already delayed to July, however small firms will need time to get to grips with the new requirements. We have asked the government to include in the deal a phased introduction of new trade arrangements for the most complex areas,

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