Scottish manufacturing to benefit from new trading service with Republic of Ireland – Scottish Business News

THE most recent estimates from the Government of Scotland value goods exports to the Irish Republic at £2.8bn – down 27 per cent compared to the year ending Q3 in 2022.

To boost this trading relationship, European road freight expert Europa Road is extending its unique Delivery Duty Paid (DDP) service, Europa Flow, on all daily routes between the Republic of Ireland and Great Britain, with the support of its Scottish team.

Europa Road – based at Eurocentral, Glasgow – is a part of the Britain’s largest independent international road freight provider Europa Worldwide Group. The company has recently invested over £1m in its infrastructure in Ireland to establish a dedicated team in Dublin and a specialist customs brokerage service to support this important new service.

From June 2024, Europa Flow, a service which ships goods using DDP incoterms, will be available to all British businesses trading with Ireland, allowing them to better serve and grow their customers on the ‘Emerald Isle’.

Andrew Baxter, Chief Executive Officer of Europa Worldwide Group, said: “A recent report  stated that Scotland, England and Wales are still exporting fewer goods than before Brexit, with volume being around 15 per cent below records registered in 2018.

“With Ireland being Britain’s fourth largest export market, the increased complexity associated with the customs border, is preventing the seamless transportation of goods for businesses.

“This is impacting transit times, increasing the amount of customs paperwork required, and could have costly and time-critical implications. These customs complexities pose a significant extra burden to all businesses – and particularly those SMEs who may be less likely to have the necessary resources and expertise to handle the additional paperwork.

“This is why we launched Europa Flow – to serve companies moving goods between Britain and Europe, providing a seamless transportation of goods between the two regions. Having initially launched Europa Flow in 2021 for mainland EU countries, the service – the first of its kind in Ireland – is now being launched to GB-Ireland trade.”

Europa Flow has successfully delivered over 300,000 DDP consignments to mainland Europe, offering a unique combination of DDP, postponed VAT accounting and anticipated declarations. Glasgow’s team of 14 support exporters from across Scotland, offering faster transit times, lower costs, and no administrative headaches for Scottish businesses through Europa Flow.

A Glasgow-based manufacturer based recently trialled Europa Flow on its exports to Ireland, stating: “The new DDP service from Europa has been well received by our current Irish customers, in that the admin burden imposed on them has significantly decreased. It has also reopened some customer conversations that have been closed since Brexit occurred.”

Europa Road, which operates Britain’s largest European groupage ‘1Hub’ in Dartford, now ships more than 50 per cent of its consignments using this innovative service. The 1Hub, which is strategically located close to the Dartford Crossing, provides scheduled, daily, road transport trunking, which allows British customers’ shipments to connect to its 42 partner hubs in mainland Europe.

Adrian Redmile, Branch and Sales Director at Europa Worldwide Group said: “Despite the challenges that were presented as trade regulations changed post-Brexit, there is a cost-effective and efficient solution to ensuring seamless movement of goods. Over the last three years we have has invested over £1m in our Irish infrastructure, more than £5m in Europa Flow in Europe and launched a Money Back Guarantee to better support British customers.

“Europa Flow now provides a truly seamless service into Ireland for businesses across Great Britain. These companies 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.

“The service is proven to removing these issues and return the market to pre-Brexit transit times. We are also the only provider with sites in Britain and in Ireland offering a Money Back Guarantee on all Europa Flow shipments. This unique offer will ensure full refunds for consignments not delivered on time.”

Europa Road provides market leading European road freight services. Its network of 17 sales branches, which includes the company’s site at Dublin Airport Central, manage the shipments of goods into Dartford, from where freight connects with daily, direct services to its continental hubs.