News & Insights

The coronvarius crew crisis is triggering ship detentions and diversions, that if not addressed effectively, will impact operations, create disruption and lead to price increases. Despite the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) calling on governments to designate marine personnel, as 'ke... Read more

Metro’s Outsourcing teams in the UK, India and Malaysia provide critical commercial, compliance and financial documentation services to internal and external customers and had to remain operative through the national COVID19 lockdowns. The Business Process & Outsource (BPO) operations pr... Read more

BIFA’s Young Forwarder Network, is probably one of the most important - and unique - developments for young people in our industry. We explore Metro’s Colin Smith’s role in the YFN story. Colin Smith is Metro’s Training & Career Development Manager and has been developing our young... Read more

Leading analysts warn that some freight forwarders and 3PLs will be unable to respond quickly to supply chain changes and the technology that supports it. Metro already have the answer. As global manufacturing, and the supply chains that support it, continue to be transformed by new technology... Read more

Joining Metro in 1994 Tom has worked across the business in a wide variety of roles, evolving and developing into the twin roles that he currently takes responsibility for. In the same way that Metro, in Tom’s words, ”has evolved to serve customers perfectly”, he has evolved, during his ... Read more

Sky high air freight rates and the supply chain chaos in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic strengthened appeal of the China-Europe rail service for the many shippers. In March, when most train services from China to Europe resumed as factories reopened, a monthly record of 73,000 TEU was ca... Read more

The deadline for any transition extension has passed and the UK is going to complete Brexit on 31st December 2020. The Government have made it clear that they have offered support where necessary and expect you to be prepared. Ignorance of customs requirements after Brexit will not be a defence w... Read more

The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) and International Monetary Fund (IMF) have released updated trade and growth forecasts, that are even more gloomy than earlier predictions, with global trade contracting 20% and global growth declining 5% in 2020. UNCTAD said yest... Read more

Data from April gave the container shipping industry its first glimpse of the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, with April 2020 global volumes plummeting 16.9%, compared to April 2019. And while the financial implications of such a drop are serious for the lines, their effective volume reductio... Read more

When airlines grounded passenger services as the Coronavirus spread, they removed almost 50% of the world’s air freight capacity. Responding to the global need for PPE, many airlines subsequently redeployed passenger (PAX) aircraft to boost belly-hold cargo capacity, while others ripped out the... Read more

In June 2020, an EU Select Committee report found that frictionless UK-Ireland border through the use of technology may not be possible, as they only have the capacity to mitigate rather than to eliminate friction arising from customs checks and processes. The new customs declaration system (C... Read more

From 1st July duty deferment users, and EORI-registered importers who pay cash or an equivalent and do not hold a duty deferment account, will need to make payments of customs duties and import VAT by the relevant due date. As part of the package of measures put in place to support businesses ... Read more