News & Insights

Head of Finance, Laurence Burford, joined Metro directly from academia, graduating in Law and Biomedical sciences from Staffordshire and Durham Universities. Failure to comply with regulatory requirements can have financial, legal and reputational consequences for businesses. Laurence joine... Read more

With six months to go before the U.K. finally breaks its ties with the European Union, and hardly any progress made in the trade negotiations business is preparing for the possibility that the UK will leave the EU without a deal. For manufacturers, this includes rebuilding stockpiles. With ove... Read more

In spite of fears that container carriers could suffer catastrophic losses and go bankrupt en-masse, because of the Coronavirus pandemic impact on global trade, shipping lines are now enjoying the highest spot rates in 5 years on some trade lanes and could well end the year with big profits. J... Read more

Responding to the UK’s plan for light-touch customs processes for importing EU goods, post-Brexit, the European Union confirmed it will enforce full customs and regulatory checks. We review the steps that will need to be conducted to export goods to mainland EU from 1st January 2021 - It’�... Read more

The Covid-19 pandemic and subsequent global lockdown has stalled and frozen international transport and the infrastructure that supports it, exposing vulnerabilities in the supply chains of raw materials, components and finished goods. The current global supply chains of many businesses are fr... Read more

The UK car industry's trade body says one in six jobs are at risk of redundancy without help from the government in restarting production. The Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT) says that one in six jobs are at risk, without help from the government including emergency funding, ... Read more

Extensive business continuity plans are our bulwark against business interruptions, in a whole host of guises. In many ways the coronavirus outbreak is the test for which our team has been planning and preparing for years. Unlike any crisis we may have considered, though, this one has new e... Read more

Sea freight rates have held up strongly on the Asia–Europe trade in both directions despite weak volume, with export prices performing especially well for the shipping lines. Carriers have tightly managed capacity through the coronavirus pandemic, blanking an extensive number of sailings on ... Read more

The UK left the European Union on January 31, 2020 with the transition period ending on December 31, 2020 and while the recent easements announced by the government will ensure continuity of import flows from 1st January there will be abrupt and major changes for exports to the EU, unless there i... Read more

Andy is “relishing the opportunity that Brexit brings” because, working with our IT development team, he is pioneering the automation of EU and UK customs declaration requirements, to streamline freight movements into and out of the EU. Andy joined Metro nine years ago, as import manager, ... Read more

Rail freight services from China to Europe have seen a massive increase in volumes, as PPE driven demand for air freight resulted in congestion, lengthier transits and disrupted air cargo supply chains. Rail cargo throughput from China to Europe during the recent peak increased by 40% over the... Read more

The bane of many a shipping manager, the Bunker Surcharge, BAF or Bunker adjustment factor, refers to a floating part of sea freight charges which represents additions due to oil prices. Which, on the petrol station forecourt, have fallen off a cliff - but not, apparently in shipping. With the... Read more