Brexit: Turning 215m Extra Customs Applications into a Competitive Advantage
Whatever your politics, the truth is that Brexit will have many implications for British businesses, some of which will be good, and others bad. One of the biggest concerns for UK firms that trade in Europe will be all the additional paperwork and associated administration that they will have to complete. The Government has already admitted that an extra 215 million customs declarations will need to be completed a year after Brexit, putting increased resourcing requirements on haulage and logistics companies.
The good news is that there is a simple solution that businesses can use to overcome this administration mountain without having to resort to more manpower. By putting the necessary digital infrastructure in place, businesses that once relied on pen and paper can seamlessly adapt to a post-Brexit world without an increase in staffing and administration costs.
The impact of Brexit on customs applications
From 1 January 2021, the rules that regulate the movement of goods from the EU into the UK and vice-versa changed, and goods are now subject to customs formalities. In 2020, around 28 million customs clearance applications were completed in the UK every year. After Brexit, that will jump by 215 million at an additional cost of £7bn per year.
The Government is responding to this challenge by injecting an additional £50m to help hire and train 50,000 new customs officers and upgrade the IT infrastructure to cope with the new customs declarations. This is on top of the £84m that has been spent so far.
How can the UK’s importers and exporters meet this challenge?
The Government might have limitless resources to process the additional customs clearance paperwork, but the same can’t be said for the country’s logistics and haulage firms. Without the help of an IT company like Comms Unite, logistics businesses will have to rely on additional manpower to cope with the changes.
However, demand for those professionals is extremely high, which is driving up their salaries. It’s also only just a few weeks until the rule changes come in, which leaves logistics firms with very little time to recruit and train new staff.
Enjoy a seamless transition with Comms Unite
Comms Unite is an IT company and a telecommunications provider that helps logistics businesses adapt to the customs changes without the requirement to recruit and train new staff. We will educate you and provide as much hand-holding as you need to support you during your transition from a pen and paper system to a digital solution.
We will design and automate a process and put all of the supporting systems in place to help you manage the transition. You will have remote access to give you complete visibility of your customs clearances wherever you are. That will allow office, home and remote workers to process a set number of clearances every day. Your system will also be extremely robust and provide the peace of mind that whatever happens, your customs applications will be completed.
With you every step of the way
At Comms Unite, there’s no requirement for you to get involved with the digitalisation of your customs clearance process. We will do everything for you, managing the software, putting the infrastructure in place and acting on your behalf with any third-party suppliers to deliver a system that you can use in a simple and efficient way.
Get in touch to find out how our fully integrated IT solutions can turn all those extra customs applications into a competitive advantage for your logistics firm.
