“Whether the increasing costs of employment, the difficulty of trading internationally or the green agenda, UK businesses of all sizes are fighting a battle and those in the SME sector seem to be up against it the most.”

“We’ve been trading 25 years this year and we’ve always had a great reputation as a company which puts people front and centre and one which takes away the “hassle” of moving goods around for customers who are not necessarily used to it.”

“We’ve helped hundreds of different clients through the Brexit years, many of which knew nothing about international trade. Those which sold to the EU never really needed to before our EU-exit.” As traders have become used to the new post-Brexit norms, the focus of Espace’s development has moved to what they see as the next big hurdle, one of environmental compliance and sustainability.

The UK has a legally binding target to bring greenhouse gas emissions to net zero by 2050 and other targets such as the ban on the sale of new internal combustion engine cars just around the corner. “We will see more and more green legislation brought in and I think we’ll really start to see that in the next couple of years with the likes of the Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism (CBAM) coming in for UK traders in 2027 and the UK potentially joining the EU Emissions Trading Scheme (EU ETS) as part of a reset of our relations with Europe,” said Yates.

Research commissioned by DHL indicates that traders want to adopt green transport solutions but aren’t necessarily ready to pay for them yet. “The challenge will always be to have a genuinely greener supply chain rather than one when you’re simply paying to offset carbon emissions from and getting value for money. There are a couple of ways where traders can make a genuine choice, firstly by looking to move freight by rail and the other is to use the facilities of a Third-Party Logistics (3PL) operator rather than run their own.” Rail over road can reduce carbon emissions by up to 78% as well as decreasing congestion on the road network.

Sustainability is a subject Espace are truly passionate about and one which forms part of their strategic plan. “Rail is a real option now, one which can be adopted but the rail network is harder to access than haulage would be. If it’s of interest, I’d really recommend having a conversation with a freight forwarder. The best ones will have connections to game changing solutions. Using a 3PL warehouse though is a no-brainer. Hiring the exact space you need, to the pallet, in a shared warehouse which is run by professionals not only lessens your carbon impact, but it vastly improves your bottom line over owning and operating your own warehouse facilities. There’s no need to light and heat your own space, there are shared and therefore cheaper transport solutions to access. For me, if you’re seriously looking at sustainability, 3PL should be your first stop.”