News & Insights

Our alerts, news and guides embrace all transport modes and explore global developments across all aspects of the supply chain, to keep you informed and guide decision making.

Business not ready for Brexit survey finds

Two-thirds of UK businesses have had their Brexit preparations disrupted by the Coronavirus pandemic, and only 25% are confident they will cope with the additional administration, according to a survey of supply chain managers by Descartes. Two-thirds of large firms (with >1000 employees) are ... Read more

Container shortages in China

Port operations have been severely diminished and inland distribution massively disrupted by the coronavirus, lockdowns and safe-working practices, which delay the unloading of containers and repositioning of equipment back to China. As European importers struggle to return empty containers to... Read more

The perfect storm threatening container haulage

The perfect storm threatening container haulage  There is not an industry sector that has not been impacted to some extent by the COVID-19 pandemic. Even those deemed ‘essential’ have had to battle unprecedented economic and operational challenges, but few have felt the impact quite a... Read more

Get ready for Brexit

The border processes and way the UK trades with Europe is going to change significantly as we exit the EU transition period on the 31st December 2020, which is why we have developed an unprecedented web resource to get you ready for Brexit. Understanding how your business will be impacted... Read more

40% of firms find better post-COVID suppliers

In a recent survey, reported by the Chartered Institute of Procurement & Supply (CIPS), 41% of firms said that they have found “new and better” suppliers to work with as a direct result of coronavirus. The survey also found that 57% found the outbreak an “incentive” to ma... Read more

The joined up supply chain

The supply chain is a complex system of interrelated parts which need to be monitored continuously to avoid problems and keep it running effectively. True supply chain visibility requires the ability to see the whole supply chain at all times in order to solve problems as they arise, as incomp... Read more

Shipping lines set to increase Asia–Europe contract rates

As the container shipping lines continue to control capacity tightly, announcing a new series of blanked sailings in October on the Asia - Europe trade, they are preparing for their annual contract negotiations with the largest shippers on the critical route, with many anticipating higher long te... Read more

UK ports matter

European ports used to be the world’s busiest and largest ports, but have been eclipsed by the impact of globalisation and the massive growth of container ports in Asia.  European ports still have a major role to play in global trade and, as an island nation, particularly so for the UK.... Read more

Sharing the Brexit knowledge

With a readership approaching two million, including 0.25 million shippers, The Loadstar is one of the most influential supply chain media platforms in the world, which is why, when they want Brexit insights, they talk to our very own Grant Liddell. The following article was originally publish... Read more

Metro’s 2020 undergraduate cohort are truly unique

Attracting talented young people to start a career in logistics is an industry wide issue, which Metro has addressed by engaging directly with regional universities and introducing the logistics and supply chain sector to annual cohorts of undergraduates. With the opportunity to experience a wide... Read more

Brexit ready

Over the last 18 months, since Theresa May struggled fruitlessly to get her Brexit deal through parliament, we have published over 60 news, opinion and guidance articles and shared close to 200 social posts, on this critical subject and now we’re putting the finishing touches to our next Brexit... Read more

The Metro team talk: Ben Fidler

Metro’s outsourcing services ensure that we can take care of the supply chain so you can focus on your business, with Ben and the Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) team being a crucial component in these operations.   Graduating with a degree in geography, Ben worked in the custom... Read more