2021 has begun and after a torturous 2020
we all hoped the impact of Covid would be diminishing by now, instead it’s on
the rise again globally. Into the mix for UK and Europe comes Brexit that adds
another wave of turbulence to an already difficult service delivery arena.
The impact to international relocations as
a result of these two elements alone is significant. As a minimum, costs have
and will continue to increase for the shipment of household goods. All flights
are limited not only for passengers but also for cargo therefore clients who
authorise airfreights within their global mobility polices are witnessing substantial
cost increases. Ports are gridlocked with empty containers grounded in the
wrong port therefore resulting in container shortages and long delays to
container deliveries. Standard shipping lanes have diminished adding to the
major delays in sailing schedules. Historic timescales for the delivery of an
assignee’s shipment have been turned upside down. In addition, immigration
rules and documentation requirements are constantly changing with visas rules
being amended at very short notice. Setting clear and transparent expectations
with assignees is increasingly difficult simply because we are working with the
unknown and unprecedented.
Household goods and visa & immigration are
just 2 relocation services negatively impacted by Brexit and Covid. Over the
next few weeks, I will expand on these 2 specific areas and add to them to cover
other areas of international relocation negatively impacted such as the effect
on European borders, changes to customs and immigration documentation and what
I believe are potential work arounds in these testing times.
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