Sourcing · Freight · Customs
Most importers stitch together a sourcing agent, a freight forwarder, and a customs broker. That is three contracts and three people to chase. We are all three, on one contract. When a container runs late, you call one number and hear a straight answer.
Transit is indicative and confirmed at quote stage.
Mode
Sea · Air · Road
Customs
Filed pre-arrival
Owner
One contact
01Services
Six jobs. One team holds all of them, so nothing slips through a crack.
We find factories that can hold your spec. Before any money moves, we verify trading history, certifications, and real production capacity. We inspect a physical sample too. A low unit price means little if the goods fail at your door.
FCL, LCL, air, and road, booked against your priority. Tell us what matters: lowest landed cost or shortest transit. We show the trade-off in numbers before you commit. We book what fits your goods.
Declarations filed right the first time. We handle commodity codes, duty, VAT treatment, deferment, and postponed VAT accounting. Paperwork goes in before the vessel arrives. Your goods clear on schedule instead of sitting at port.
UKCA and CE conformity, labelling, and restricted-goods rules, checked before shipping. A fault at the border costs most. We flag it early, while the factory can still fix it.
Short-term overflow or steady storage, whichever you need. We pick, pack, and send on to your customers, a retailer's DC, or a marketplace centre. Stock does not stall between the port and the shelf.
New to importing, or scaling fast? We map the route, the duty exposure, and the paperwork before you commit capital to stock. You get a clear yes or no. Guesswork stays out of it.
02Process
Five stages. You always know which one you are in, and what lands in your inbox when it ends.
Tell us the product, the target landed cost, and the deadline. You get an honest yes or no before anyone spends.
You receive
A written feasibility note
We shortlist checked factories and pull samples and quotes. Every claim comes with evidence.
You receive
A side-by-side supplier comparison
We agree the mode and routing, book the space, and arrange collection at origin. Nothing sails on a verbal promise.
You receive
The schedule, in writing
Declarations go in before arrival. Duty and VAT get worked out up front. No surprise line on the final invoice.
You receive
A full duty and VAT breakdown
Haulage to your door, or into storage until you need it. Proof of delivery follows the same day.
You receive
POD and the complete document set
03Trade lanes
Sea and air windows below are indicative. We confirm the real numbers against your load at quote stage.
| Origin region | Sea freight | Air freight | Typical goods |
|---|---|---|---|
| Far East | 30–45 days | On request | Furniture |
| Indian subcontinent | On request | On request | Food and beverages |
| Middle East | On request | On request | Electronics |
| Europe | On request, road | On request | Machinery, food and drink, components |
04Sectors
Different goods stall for different reasons. We know where each one tends to snag.
Seasonal buys that must land on time. Usually held on commodity-code disputes.
Temperature and shelf-life do not wait. Usually held on port-health paperwork.
Heavy machinery that is expensive and easy to misclassify. Usually held on incomplete packing lists.
Tight margins, fast trend cycles. Usually held on fibre-composition evidence.
05Why us
Split the work across three suppliers and you manage the seams yourself. Keep it in one place and someone else does. Here is the difference on paper.
Three separate contracts, and a different person to chase on each.
A border error turns into an argument about whose fault it was.
Compliance gets checked after booking, when a change costs the most.
You end up project-managing your own shipment.
One contract and one invoice for the whole shipment.
Classification and duty settled before the goods move.
Compliance checked at sourcing, while a change stays cheap.
One named contact owns the outcome, door to door.
06FAQ
The questions first-time and repeat importers put to us most. Still stuck? The quote form is below.
Yes. Any business bringing goods into Great Britain needs a GB EORI number, registered to the importer of record. It is free and usually issued within a few days. We flag it at the feasibility stage so it never holds up a shipment.
FCL is a full container used by your goods alone. LCL means your pallets share a container and you pay for the space you use. LCL suits smaller volumes, but it adds consolidation and deconsolidation, so handling goes up and the door-to-door time gets longer. We model both against your real volume before you decide.
The importer of record is legally liable, and that is normally the buyer's business. The Incoterm can move it: DDP puts the cost on the seller. The Incoterm also decides who carries risk on each leg. We confirm it in writing at quote stage.
As early as possible. Declarations can be lodged before the vessel arrives, so goods clear on schedule. Most delays trace back to an incomplete commercial invoice, a missing certificate, or a commodity-code mismatch. Slow customs is rarely the real problem.
Yes, and a large share of our work starts exactly there. We begin with a feasibility conversation about your product, target landed cost, and deadline. You get an honest answer on whether the route works before any capital goes in.
We deal with the authority directly and keep you posted the whole way. Holds usually come down to documentation, classification, or a product-safety query. Those are the exact checks we run at the sourcing stage, which is why holds stay rare for our clients.
07Get a quote
Three fields. We read every one. We aim to reply within one working day, with a real next step.