Liverpool office

Strengthening UK network with new regional hubs in Leeds, Liverpool and Belfast

Feb 18, 2026 |

Metro has expanded its UK footprint with the opening of three new offices in Leeds, Liverpool and Belfast, as part of its continued national growth strategy.

Investing in strategically important locations reinforces Metro’s long-term commitment to building a stronger regional presence and delivering greater operational flexibility across the UK and Ireland.

Each new office has been established to enhance regional coverage, improve responsiveness and strengthen sector support, particularly across retail, consumer goods and manufacturing.

Operating as dedicated regional hubs, the Leeds, Liverpool and Belfast teams will deliver Metro’s full service portfolio, including air freight, ocean freight, road logistics, customs brokerage and specialist retail and e-commerce solutions.

This expansion enables customers to benefit from:

  • Faster local decision-making
  • Closer commercial and operational support
  • Improved route flexibility and modal optimisation
  • Stronger integration with Metro’s wider national and international network

By combining local expertise with global reach, Metro is positioning itself to provide more agile, tailored solutions in an increasingly complex trading environment.

Strategic regional leadership

The new offices are led by experienced industry professionals with deep regional knowledge and strong commercial track records.

In Leeds, Mark Godfrey brings extensive experience in sales, key account management and general management, with a clear focus on commercial growth and long-term partnerships.

In Liverpool, Tricia Maddox adds significant operational and trade management expertise, alongside broad international customer experience across sea freight and general management roles.

In Belfast, Chris Orr leads Metro’s entry into Northern Ireland — a uniquely strategic market. Northern Ireland’s dual access to both the UK internal market and the EU single market creates significant opportunity for manufacturers and distributors seeking flexibility and tariff advantages. Metro’s presence in Belfast provides customers with direct access to this distinctive trading position while strengthening the company’s foothold in the all-Ireland market.

A platform for sustained growth

The opening of these offices is not simply an increase in physical presence; it is a deliberate investment in capability and long-term customer value.

Over the next 12 months, Metro will focus on:

  • Accelerating regional revenue growth
  • Expanding commercial and operational teams in line with demand
  • Strengthening customer acquisition and retention
  • Enhancing service performance and reliability at a regional level

As supply chains continue to face regulatory complexity, geopolitical uncertainty and operational volatility, Metro’s expanding UK network provides customers with greater stability, closer support and access to a broader range of multimodal solutions.

This latest expansion signals Metro’s intent to continue growing its national presence — building a stronger, more connected network designed around customer resilience, responsiveness and long-term success.

Metro’s new regional leaders are already engaging with customers across their markets and are keen to explore how they can support your growth.

Mark Godfrey – Regional Director, Leeds

“I’m genuinely excited to get to know the team and contribute to Metro’s continued growth and success.”
EMAIL Mark

Tricia Maddox – Regional Director, Liverpool

“I look forward to meeting colleagues and customers and helping drive growth in the region.”
EMAIL Tricia

Chris Orr – Regional Director, Belfast

“Northern Ireland presents a significant expansion opportunity for Metro, and I’m excited for this next chapter.”
EMAIL Chris

training

Metro invests in people to power global growth

Feb 18, 2026 | ,

As Metro accelerates its UK and international expansion, the business has strengthened its People function with the appointments of Paul Davies as Head of Organisational Development, who will be launching a comprehensive suite of new training initiatives designed to support long-term sustainable growth, and Beth Jones to lead global recruitment.

Recognising that operational performance and customer delivery are directly linked to capability, Metro is investing across leadership, onboarding, technology and talent development to ensure consistency and excellence across its global network.

Developing leaders for the future

At the heart of the programme is a newly launched Leadership Development Programme, created to support high-potential colleagues stepping into greater responsibility. The initiative focuses on practical leadership capability — equipping managers to communicate clearly, make confident decisions and build high-performing teams within a scaling global organisation.

Alongside this, Metro will introduce a refreshed Managerial Training Framework for both new and existing managers. The framework ensures a consistent foundation in people leadership, coaching, performance management and structured decision-making across all regions.

Strengthening onboarding for commercial success

With continued growth in Metro’s Business Development division, the company has also launched a dedicated onboarding pathway for new commercial hires. This structured approach provides clear expectations, targeted industry and product knowledge, and practical tools to help colleagues build credibility and deliver impact from the outset.

By formalising the onboarding experience, Metro ensures that new talent integrates quickly and contributes effectively to customer success.

Global consistency through regional investment

To maintain training quality across time zones and markets, Metro has expanded its Learning function by appointing a dedicated trainer in India. This investment strengthens regional support while ensuring that global standards of development and delivery remain consistent.

The move reflects Metro’s commitment to creating a unified culture and shared performance expectations across its international footprint.

Introducing a new learning platform

Supporting these initiatives is the implementation of a new digital training platform. The system provides colleagues with on-demand access to structured learning pathways, compliance modules and self-directed development opportunities — an essential capability for a business scaling at pace.

By combining leadership development, enhanced onboarding, regional training expertise and modern learning technology, Metro is building the organisational strength required to support continued growth.

Expanding talent and opportunity

Paul Davies leads the design and delivery of Metro’s new organisational development strategy, ensuring training initiatives align with the company’s growth trajectory and long-term capability goals.

Beth Jones oversees recruitment across the UK and overseas, strengthening Metro’s global talent pipeline. She also manages the Graduate Programme and the relaunch of the enhanced Metro Mentoring Programme, supporting career progression and knowledge sharing across the business.

Encouraging client site exchange visits

Metro is also encouraging Exchange Visits to client sites. These visits provide colleagues with first-hand insight into operational environments, supply chain challenges and customer priorities — deepening commercial understanding and strengthening long-term partnerships.

Together, these initiatives underline Metro’s belief that sustained global growth is built on capable leadership, skilled teams and a culture of continuous development.

If you, or someone you know, would like to work with a progressive colleague-focused business, please EMAIL our HR Director, Paul Moss, a CV and covering letter.

stop trade

Customs is the bottleneck in global trade — Metro is removing it

Feb 18, 2026 | , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

The Global Trade Observatory Outlook 2026, based on insights from more than 3,500 senior supply chain executives globally, delivers a clear message: customs is now the single biggest operational constraint in global trade. 

According to the report:

  • 60% of executives cite customs clearance as the leading cause of disruption.
  • 36% rank trade facilitation among the top policy priorities for enabling growth.

At a time when 94% still expect trade growth, the implication is clear: growth is possible, but only if border friction is controlled.

For importers and exporters, speed through borders is now as important as speed of transit.

Border Friction Is No Longer a Back-Office Issue

Customs delays today are not just administrative inconveniences. They create:

  • Demurrage and storage costs
  • Production stoppages
  • Missed retail windows
  • Inventory distortion
  • Reputational risk

As supply chains diversify and multi-origin sourcing becomes more diverse, compliance complexity increases. Different rules of origin, changing tariff regimes, sanctions screening, high-risk product categories and new digital reporting requirements all increase exposure.

The Global Trade Observatory findings confirm what many businesses already feel: border friction is now the pressure point in supply chain resilience and execution at customs is no longer a milestone, it is a strategic necessity.

Metro’s Customs Brokerage: Built for Complexity

Metro’s Customs Compliance Services are designed specifically for this environment of volatility and regulatory intensity. 

Our AEO-accredited team manage the full spectrum of customs requirements, including:

  • Permanent and temporary imports
  • Transit (T1) procedures
  • Specialised food and high-risk product declarations
  • UK, EU and USA clearance at all ports
  • Sanctions-origin advisory and exemption cases

This is not simply about filing entries, it is about total compliance and controlling risk before it materialises.

For example:

  • 99.8% of food shipments clear without delay, with IPAFFS paperwork typically submitted within one hour of receiving slaughterhouse documentation.
  • Export declarations are routinely processed within 30–120 minutes.
  • Secureduty refunds through proactive review and HMRC engagement.

CuDoS: AI-Driven Customs Intelligence

Metro’s AI-driven CuDoS platform automates compliance for complex, multi-line entries. 

  • Aggregates multi-line invoices (300+ lines)
  • Reduces manual processing by 70%
  • Achieves 99.3% first-time declaration accuracy
  • Completes complex entries in under two hours

In a market where manual processes can take 6–24 hours and error rates remain high, automation and AI-driven validation are competitive advantage.

From Compliance to Competitive Advantage

The Global Trade Observatory Outlook highlights how trade growth will continue despite uncertainty, but only for those who can navigate friction effectively, and customs sits at the centre of that challenge.

As supplier diversification increases and new trade corridors open, customs complexity rises. Multi-origin supply chains multiply declaration volumes and compliance touch-points.

Without disciplined brokerage and intelligent automation, delays compound quickly.

The Global Trade Observatory data confirms that customs is now the primary bottleneck in global trade. 

Metro’s mission is simple: remove that bottleneck.

If your business is experiencing clearance delays, compliance pressure, or escalating duty exposure, Metro’s Customs Compliance team and CuDoS platform deliver measurable performance improvements in speed, accuracy and cost control. EMAIL managing director, Andrew Smith, to learn more.

Manhattan skyline 1440x1080 1

Strengthening Metro’s US customer focus

Jan 21, 2026 | , ,

Metro continues to invest in capability, coverage and customer leadership as part of its expansion plans for 2026. The appointment of Jonathan Cheyne as Key Account Director for the USA reflects that commitment, reinforcing Metro’s commercial focus and customer engagement across the transatlantic market.

Jonathan joins Metro with a strong international background spanning education, sport and global logistics, bringing a people-first approach shaped by both operational delivery and customer experience leadership.

Jonathan’s higher education spans more than a decade, with undergraduate and postgraduate study, alongside research modules, completed at leading universities across Scotland, the United States and Singapore. This international academic exposure has underpinned a career built around collaboration, performance and cross-border understanding.

Alongside his studies, Jonathan rowed competitively for Glasgow University. After completing his eligibility as an athlete, he returned to the club as a volunteer coach, while working professionally with Scottish Rowing. This combination of participation and leadership helped shape a management style centred on performance, development and accountability.

Jonathan Cheyne – Key Account Director

As Regional Development Manager at Scottish Rowing, Jonathan spent two years supporting athlete pathways, regional programmes and organisational growth. The role built a strong grounding in stakeholder management, structured development and performance outcomes. Skills that would later translate into complex commercial environments.

Jonathan then spent eight years with A.P. Moller – Maersk, holding a series of progressively senior roles across the UK and Ireland. His experience spans client-facing account management, regional customer leadership and global programme director roles.

Across these roles, Jonathan worked at the intersection of customers, operations and carrier strategy, with a strong focus on service consistency, network performance and multi-carrier solutions.

Building Metro’s US commercial platform

Jonathan joined Metro in December 2025, with a clear mandate from the group’s leadership: to help build and shape Metro’s US commercial platform.

Working closely with existing and new customers, his role centres on developing long-term relationships, supporting inbound/outbound operations into the US and ensuring consistent service delivery for end customers. Crucially, Jonathan sees Metro USA as the group’s conduit to the US market, connecting customers, capabilities and opportunities across the wider Metro network.

As Metro expands its footprint and investment in the United States, Jonathan will play a key role in broadening the group’s horizons, commercially, operationally and strategically, across North America.

Whether you are exporting to the US today, considering new routes to market, or looking to strengthen service levels for your American customers, Jonathan Cheyne would welcome a conversation to understand your requirements and explore how Metro can support your ambitions. EMAIL Jonathan.

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