Insight

Over the past three years the freight and logistics industries have experienced a plethora of challenges – such as being at the frontline of the worldwide Covid-19 pandemic and, more locally in Europe, the trials of BREXIT. However, Geoff Yates, head of commercial development at Espace Europe, underlines it’s not all been bad news.

Casting his mind back to 2016 and the morning after the BREXIT vote, Geoff admits he was surprised with the outcome. “I remember thinking ‘what have they done?’ and ‘where do we go from here’”. Whilst for many companies in the freight industry there was still a period of ‘business as usual’. For Espace it was a case of going back to the drawing board to redesign a business that would survive the post transition period. “Right from those early days, we took the stance that our customers’ issues were our issues. If our customers weren’t ready for BREXIT, how could we be?”

Formed in 2000, Espace has a wealth of knowledge and collectively hundreds of years’ worth of freight experience. However, the younger members of the team had very little understanding of international trade – and little need for it as Great Britain had been members of the European Customs Union since the 1970s. “The leaders of Espace very much thought that we had to take control over the whole process,” explains Geoff. “To start from the beginning and to learn everything we needed to about international trade for the sake of our customers, staff and ultimately our business. This included things such as understanding INCO terms, which seems so basic now but for a lot of our customers, who had only ever bought and sold into Europe, their true meaning was irrelevant.”

Whilst preparing for BREXIT another epoch defining moment arrived with the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic. “Naively, we thought Covid-19 would affect our Asian interests and nothing more. With the arrival of Covid-19 in Italy we realised pretty quickly we were in for a rough ride,” recalls Geoff. 

With staff being furloughed at the end of March, the closing of the office, and a move to remote working, a few nervous weeks followed. During April, bookings remained low, but in May there were some signs of recovery, which continued from there onwards. “Both BREXIT and Covid-19 have shown that we have the ability to adapt and change to external pressures. At Espace we pride ourselves on our ability to work with customers and provide solutions to the challenges of the market.”

Over the past two years, Espace has also seen its role as a freight forwarder in the market change significantly. “Before BREXIT, ‘price was king’. It was as easy to move a load from Manchester to Marseille as it was one from Coventry to Cambridge. Post BREXIT, the freight forwarder has become a valuable enabler to trade and a source of practical and trustworthy advice,” states Geoff.

Whereas a traditional haulier can move a load from ‘A to B’, a freight forwarder can take care of the transport and facilitate the often hidden steps required within that movement. “For anyone new to exporting or looking to grow trade lanes, I urge them to look at the freight forwarding industry as their outsourced shipping department,” says Geoff. “A good forwarder will be able to move your freight around the world in a way you would struggle to do as efficiently yourselves without hiring expertise. A great forwarder will also look to build relationships with you; find ways to save you money; and add efficiencies and innovation to your supply chain. It really is a win-win relationship.”

Geoff continues: “Rather than having one or ten trade lanes, as an exporter may have, we see hundreds a week, each slightly different from the other and are often asked to find creative solutions to make them work.” 

The freight forwarding industry has also seen a seismic shift towards technology in recent years and the adoption has allowed SME forwarders to challenge blue chip ones for market share. “Espace has a very positive outlook for the future, with this year our 22^nd year of trading,” concludes Geoff. “Technology now is very much at the forefront of everything we do and a key part of our development strategy going forwards. However, crucially, being an employee owned business allows us to employ new co-owners who share our company vision and values. Our ‘ownership’ mindset means our mutual interactions are kept at the highest level ensuring a great customer experience. We see ourselves as a customer care company specialising in freight forwarding.”