Trafford Rubber Products sees success for British-made products

The business, which employs 33 people, exports rubber compounds, flat roofing compounds and swellable rubber to places across the globe.

Christopher expects trade to be buoyant in 2021 once lockdowns ease and reveals how the business has handled the UK’s exit from the EU.

“Our customers have ordered products as normal and trade globally seems to be very strong. The UK’s transition from the EU has certainly not dampened enthusiasm for British goods and services.

“We are expecting trade to be buoyant in 2021 – businesses want to trade and as countries emerge from lockdowns we expect to see demand for consumer and commercial products increase, which ultimately means more products from us.

“To make sure we were ready for the end of the Transition period, we attended every training opportunity possible and spoke to our freight forwarders to understand the new rules and paperwork required to ship to the EU – we were extremely well prepared.

“Some businesses might think they are not affected by the new rules but it’s worth using the checker tool on GOV.UK to find out.

“Our freight forwarders have taken care of all the logistics. We have a Northern Ireland XI EORI (Economic Operators Registration and Identification)[SP1] number for clearance of our goods. There are no additional checks or special certifications required for our products so it’s essentially business as usual.

Trafford have experienced some challenges with border controls getting goods into Europe, but are confident these will be overcome.

“We worked hard to be prepared and we are still learning and adapting but are confident once we have completed a few shipments and saved document templates it should all be a lot better.

“It’s a learning curve not just for importers and exporters, but also for border controls, and we hope to see customs clearance being speeded up significantly soon.

“The best advice I can give to businesses navigating the new rules is to choose a trusted and reliable freight forwarder to ship your goods, whether you are importing or exporting.

“And make certain with them that your invoice and any other clearance documents are 100% perfect, or you will experience delays and so will others as a result. Everyone will pick it up and soon enough it will become second nature.

“I’m confident we can make Brexit work for our business. We have a great product that we sell all over the world and its free from onerous bureaucracy in terms of regulatory certification. We are well used to shipping globally so all we see is continued opportunity.

“Britain’s reputation for product excellence speaks for itself and indeed our products and that of many other EU businesses is integral to the EU supply chain.”