Kleerfreight Ltd - Know More
We were founded in 1994. We are a specialist Customs Clearance agent first and foremost, known for being one of the most knowlegable of
HMRC's procedures for both import and export in the UK. Back in 1994 we started life as one man and a simple goal, provide specialist Customs services
for larger freight forwarders and importers. Andy Barnes founded us when he was 18 years old, serving the port of Sheerness and Thamesport as a
local Customs agency for both ro/ro traffic and containers from all over the world. As time went on one man turned into two, then three and within a few
years we had a large team of people in one office, handling thousands of Customs entries each month. Brother and sister Rob and Caroline came
onboard and since then we have run a successful family business which continuosly evolves with all the latest technology to deal with all things HMRC
for importers and exporters.
The turning point for us was technology. Back in the day each port required an agency office to be present and everything was done on type writers. In
the 1990's computing was advancing, the internet was well on its way and the dawn of email was upon us. Kleerfreight was one of the first agents
to recognise that with new software and computing entries instead of typing them, we could remain in one port yet serve the entire country via a series
of remote approvals. As a result we not only served Sheerness and Thamesport, but we expanded overnight to take on all the other major container
ports such as Felixstowe, Liverpool, Bristol, Tilbury, Southampton, Chatham and many smaller ports scattered around the UK. We still needed to present
the paperwork to the local offices so each night we despatched our own courier to these places to provide a swift easy overnight service to clear cargo in
all UK ports within just a few hours.
This meant that for our customers with cargo arriving at many UK ports, they could deal with just one person, regardless of where the cargo was
arriving. Along the way we gathered a large customer base in specialist areas such as perishables - fresh fruit and veg from all over the world and imports
of cars from Japan. We became specialists for cargo that required serious knowledge and skills to clear through customs quickly and correctly. These days
we still continue to do exactly the same, although our service has been replicated by others, our skill and knowledge has not. We still provide clearance
for import and export at all UK ports on a daily basis but instead of sending documents by dispatch rider, its all electronic, saving lots of time and money
for our customers.
Our customer base was reflected in this knowledge back then and still is. The majority of our customers are actually other freight agents, we form part of
a small jigsaw puzzle for large forwarders in providing a knowlegable service to them by handling the complex part - Customs. We represent a
healthy amount of importers and exporters directly and in 50% of cases we can save an importer money by using our skills and knowledge of HMRC's
tariff and rules by ensuring goods are declared correctly - more often than not when we check work carried out by others, its riddled with mistakes
or misdeclared through lack of knowledge and care. We pride ourselves on understanding our customer and goods and ensuring that we are nothing less
than perfect when making Customs declarations.
Each year we account for millions of pounds in import duty and taxes on behalf of large multi national importers through to small one man band importers
just getting started.
Over the years we have also diversified our business to incorporate shipping from all over the world, transport in the UK, warehousing, container
unpacking, household removals and so much more - all the topics related to the shipment of goods. We can provide one or all services to a customer and
with a network of wel proven partners in pretty much all corners of the world, we get up to some interesting things for our customers on occasion. Want
to move a power station 2000 miles by sea? Need that race car at a circuit in Russia next week or maybe the 30 tonnes of fresh Tuna that should be on
the supermarket shelf next week but its sat in Japan... or maybe you just dont have that much confidence in your current Customs agent that you are
paying only what you should to HMRC and need to ask someone...we've heard and done most of it but the challenge continues!
As a family firm our values and sense of a good job well done at a good price is our pride. Whether for a large or small customer, we can adapt to
projects, situations and problems as they arise with keen vigor to overcome and get the job done professionally.