Shipping Forecast

Posted on 06 Sep, 2022

You might be surprised to learn that we normally export about 20% of our British made furniture every year.  This can be anything from one stool boxed up and air freighted to Virginia or a whole 40’ shipping container to Vancouver - both recent events !

The last two years have been tough for shipping.  The pandemic caused the industry to snarl up in ports around the world and planes were grounded.  As things began to ease, The Evergiven ran aground in the Suez Canal causing a global backlog that took weeks to sort out.  Competition for space on a container was fierce, prices rocketed and none of our usual shipping agents could commit to an arrival time. 

Fortunately for us, and our customers, this is easing and rates are beginning to drop as shipping returns to normal.  We are happy to supply quotes and organise packing and shipping.  We liaise between a specialist funiture shipper and the customer throughout the process and will usually take the furniture ourselves to the shipper - making sure it leaves the country in top condition, fully wrapped, crated and insured.

Our popular 007 'Spectre' Amsterdam Chair is the item we are most frequently asked to export and this is often air freighted, cutting down delivery times.  However, if more than one piece is to be exported, a space in a shipping container is the most economical solution with the cost per item reducing as you buy more space. 

We like a challenge and have exported all over the world with our most unusual destination being Dutch Curacao, but perhaps our proudest “Export Moment” was shipping a whole 40’ container, full of our furniture, to a family in China !