Tell us a bit about your Chamber.
Since 1877, Bedfordshire Chamber of Commerce has looked after and supported businesses in the County.
About a third of our members are in the manufacturing, engineering, and distribution sectors, and this is where ChamberCustoms and our associated Global Trade services have really helped to drive local business growth.
We’re known in the County for being a highly proactive Chamber, but also for keeping the personal touch.
When we meet people once, we remember them, and people are often astonished that the next time we see them we immediately greet them by their first name!
Tell us about the team.
The Global Trade and ChamberCustoms team here is Paula Devine, Jabine Parkar, and Nicky James, who, between them, have amassed over 60 proud years of experience working at the Chamber.
We take care of everything businesses need to be able to ship globally – paperwork, submissions, declarations – and ensure that our members’ goods, no matter where they enter or leave the UK, will be cleared for onward transportation smoothly.
We also work very closely with our colleagues in the membership team to promote global trade as an option for new and existing members and make educational resources and training available to them.
What’s your favourite part of your job?
No two days are the same! Despite our experience, we’re learning all the time, and you have to constantly be on top of changes, especially in the post-Brexit era where there’s ongoing adjustment and readjustment of import and export legislation.
We love the fact that what we do here makes a real difference to a business’s fortunes, and when we’ve taken care of it for them, they are genuinely appreciative of it.
At the same time, it’s also great fun to see the sheer breadth of products that we enable to be imported and exported - global business is fascinating.
What’s the biggest misconception people have about customs clearance?
The biggest is that businesses often don’t understand just how much information they need to provide, or how time-consuming the work to compile and submit it is. What looks like 10 minutes’ work can often be several hours’ worth, and this can be frustrating for business owners and managers.
Also, it’s sometimes difficult for businesses to grasp the degree of responsibility that a customs declaration carries, and the liabilities they will face – financial, legal, and reputational – if the declaration isn’t done correctly.
For some, it’s a rubber-stamping process, and the value isn’t appreciated. However, whilst we have to be understanding of their frustration, we also have a duty of care to be firm and to put their compliance before all else.
What advice would you give a business which is considering exporting overseas?
We’d say, before anything else, ‘Do your research.’ The business needs to understand whether there’s a genuine call or demand for their product in that territory, and they also need to understand what their routes to market - distribution, local trade partners, outlets – will be.
Also, they should take professional advice on rules and regulations restrictions, tariffs, and so on.
But once all this is dealt with, our advice would be, simply,
‘Give it a go!’
Nearly 143,000 businesses exported goods or services out of the UK in 2023, so the door is open, and with our help, local businesses can be part of this massive growth opportunity.
What do you enjoy doing when you’re not working?
This team’s been together so long, it’s more like a family. We share recipes and cook for each other (Jabine was previously the samosa queen, but this crown has now passed to Paula, whilst Nicky’s speciality is cakes).
We also have our own families to keep us busy and we’re all big fans of cruises, too.
What’s the best piece of advice you’ve been given?
Take one day at a time is advice we’ve all taken to heart. When every day is so different, it can be easy to become overly anxious about what’s coming next, but it’s better just to remind yourself you can deal with it as it comes and get on with it.
We’ve each been in many roles over the years, and this advice has served us well. We’re also a close-knit team, and we help each other through both professional and personal challenges.
Equally, though, the advice we constantly give ourselves is to treat our work like it is a business, and like we’re spending our own money, because that’s what the businesses that rely on us and spend their money with us deserve.
If you could choose a superpower, what would it be?
We’re unanimous that if we had one superpower, it would be eidetic memory – the ability to photographically recall what we’ve read – quite simply because, in this job, we have so much to remember!
