How one South West business is preparing for Brexit

Tudor Rose has provided specialist export solutions for well-known food and drink brands across the South West for over 30 years and are familiar with the disruption Brexit has caused for many firms, as well as the changing regulations and the uncertainty that still remains for many companies. 

Jazmine Furley, the company’s Supply Chain Manager said “the biggest challenges the business has encountered during the Brexit transition period has been “the uncertainty of where we’re sitting regarding a deal and from a preparation point of view, we’re having to look at worst case scenarios as there isn’t a lot of guidance in place.”

The company has been working with Business West as well as receiving support from the Department for International Trade (DIT), so they “can stay aligned with everything” and “have somewhere to go if we have specific questions.”

One of the queries the company has approached Business West with has been the requirements for food and drink packaging and the need for food products to have an EU address.

John Stephenson, Commercial Director of Tudor Rose said, “we do a huge amount of labelling of products on behalf of companies. We knew that a lot of the companies wouldn’t have the packaging changes they needed on time, so it’s been hugely important for us to understand the requirements around this.”

During the transition period, the company has invested in enhancing their chilled and frozen labelling facility to meet the increased demand for product labelling as we approach the Brexit deadline.

Tudor Rose exports to over 80 countries around the world and due to their experience with exporting to non-EU countries, they are used to completing customs declarations and are familiar with the complexities involved.

However, Jazmine says that “One of the things we’re talking to customers about is their importing responsibilities and helping them to find local sources of information to assist them, such as Business West.”

Business West has now launched ChamberCustoms, a Customs Declaration service for UK importers and exporters, of all sizes. The service will be offered direct to businesses and through UK freight forwarders, ensuring that customs clearance is accurate, timely and avoids additional costs through delays or errors. 

Whilst there is still a lot of uncertainty surrounding the end of the Brexit transition period, one certainty is that companies who have only been trading with the EU will now need to complete customs declarations. Business West is on hand to help and has one of the largest teams in the UK doing the export documentation for companies.

When asked about what businesses should be considering whilst preparing for the end of the Brexit transition period, Jazmine said:

“Ensure you’re working with the correct customs agent and have people who are compliance minded if you’re going to complete customs declarations yourself because there are a lot of complexities surrounding things like getting the right commodity code. “

John added, “From an inside perspective, whilst talking to lots of companies, we’ve been quite surprised at how ill prepared a lot of companies are. There is still not necessarily as much recognition of how soon this is coming at us. It’s already too late and firms really need to start acting now if they haven’t already.”

If you wish to register your interest in ChamberCustoms, you can visit this link or check out our Trading through Brexit hub to find out more information about how your business can prepare for the end of the transition period.