Kurt J. Lesker

Kurt J. Lesker is a leading global manufacturer providing high-quality vacuum products and systems.

TESTIMONIAL

In January 2021, following Brexit and the agreement reached on Christmas Eve 2020, we started to ship goods into the EU following the guidance of the government at the time. However, from our customers perspective, they found that there were delays caused by companies who were not as well prepared for Brexit as they should have been, including courier services, and due to the backlog, there was various communication breakdowns when fees were due on parcels causing them to be delayed, and in some cases, sent off to be destroyed. Some other customers also objected to the additional fees they were being asked for despite the deal being reached as they understood it meant goods moving between the UK and the EU would carry less fees, but in reality, it only affected goods that originated in the UK being sent into the EU, or EU origin goods being sent to the UK.  An EU origin part being shipped back to the EU is not applicable to the deal that is in place.

As a company, we found ourselves in a difficult position with some of our larger customers because of this, and we needed a solution whereby our customers could continue to enjoy the high level of service they get receive from our company without the hassle caused by Brexit for extra paperwork and / or fees that needed to be paid for duty and VAT.

Working with various solution providers, we were introduced to Simarco as a possible partner to work alongside a France based finance company who were registering us for an EU VAT number so that we could become the Importer of Record (via DDP Incoterms) for the goods under Regime 42/40 (once we had a VAT number), and strategically absorb these costs for certain key customers who were having issues clearing goods into the EU. Simarco held our hand through the process, checking paperwork was correct, highlighting areas for improvement for smoother transition, as well as coordinating with clearing agencies on our behalf.

They have listened to our needs for our own processes as well, and together we now have a smooth process and several successful shipments into the EU as a result – both Via UPS France for redistribution, and direct shipments to some customers for larger shipments. They even helped us retrieve an item that was misrouted to French Guiana instead of France (via another company) which really helped us in a difficult position.

The staff are attentive, fast responding, and knowledgeable, and my only regret is that we didn’t know about them sooner!

We would like to take this opportunity to thank them for their help in these difficult times – because without them, things would have been a lot tougher.”

Richard Whitehouse

Compliance & Commercial Manager EMEIA