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Exporter sends first shipment to EU since Brexit

Exporter sends first shipment to EU since Brexit

The UK’s leading manufacturer of foil insulation products has finally sent its first shipment of insulation to the EU since 31st January.

The Delivery of 18 pallets of foil insulation products is the first to have reached EU shelves after seven months of logistical and bureaucratic problems.

Before Brexit, 20% of all SuperFOIL Insulation was sold to the EU, but since the end of the transition period, sales fell to zero as the company was faced with red tape, tax complications and the prohibitive cost and delays of shipping.

As a whole, EU sales for 2021 have fallen to just 2.9%, costing the company more than £300,000 in lost revenue.

However, the company has finally sent its first full shipment to European customers since the new trading relationship came into force, with 1,800 RadPack radiator reflectors reaching a distributor in Germany.

Managing director of SuperFOIL Insulation, William Bown said:

“The fact that it’s a big deal for us to send a single shipment to the EU goes to show just how crazy these last few months have been. The EU used to be a really good market for us, and although there is demand for our product, we just couldn’t get our insulation to EU customers at a competitive price and timeframe. This has meant losing out on a very lucrative market, costing our business more than £300,000 in lost revenue.

“We’ve tried just about everything to get around the various problems; we’ve reorganised our supply lines, set up a Dutch subsidiary and done our best to sign up to schemes like the Import One-Stop-Shop scheme to make things easier, but the problems have been extremely hard to overcome.

“We used to sell a fifth of all our product to the EU and it constituted half of all our sales on Amazon. Now, we’ve only just been able to resume Amazon sales to the EU and get one load of product to Germany. It’s been really tough, but hopefully, we’re finally getting things moving again.

“Not all of the problems can be attributed to Brexit, although that is undoubtedly the root cause of most of the issues. Primarily, it’s been the incredible cost and unpredictability of shipping as well as the shortage of hauliers: Last year, we could send a truckload of product to the Netherlands for around £800. Now it’s £3,000, with up to £1,300 in additional charges as well as a 90 day lead time.”

While EU sales are far below normal levels, the company has experienced a bumper year for the domestic market, with UK sales making up for the shortfall. The company puts this down to increased demand for DIY and home improvement products driven by people working from home.

As well as it’s high performance multifoil insulation, the company has launched several new products catering to the DIY market, with SuperFOIL RadPack radiator reflectors, garage door insulation kits and multipurpose foil insulation wrap becoming bestsellers.

Since relocating to its headquarters in Lincoln in 2019, the family-owned business has taken on 13 more full time employees and increased the quantity of product made onsite. SuperFOIL now produces 250sq metres of insulation each year in the UK, with plans to increase this to 500sq metres by the end of the year.

SuperFOIL products can be found in a wide range of retailers and wholesalers including Wickes, The Range, Yorkshire Trading Company, Builder Depot, Chadwicks and Harlow Timber Merchants as well as major online retailers.

To find out more about SuperFOIL Insulation and its range of insulation products, visit www.superfoil.co.uk.

Picture: William Bown


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