French Connection

NCDA member Urgent Services have opened an office and warehouse in Paris, and we think this could potentially help to provide other NCDA members with a gateway to Europe.

Last year, one of Managing Director Derwent Jaconelli’s family members, an Italian
working in Paris, mentioned that their IT company had been finding it hard to manage large cross-channel consignments ever since Brexit, and asked if he thought he could help. After a range of meetings lasting over 6 months, a deal was agreed that would see Urgent Services store items at their warehouses in London and Paris and manage the complete process of cross-channel logistics too.

As a British company, they faced several challenges, and to cut a long story short, it quickly became apparent that in order to operate effectively in France, they would need to be an officially French-registered company, which they now are. Whilst the main warehouse will not be open for another few months, they have secured temporary space, which is allowing them to operate a soft launch, giving them time to build their brand.

An advantage of having a warehouse in London and Paris is that they can store shipments prior to sending them as a consolidated consignment, which saves money. As they are also taking care of the customs and duty documents, they have a lot more control than they would otherwise have. With clients being able to store with them on either side of the Channel, they get the added benefit of being in control of both the UK and French logistics.

Paris is a new venture and will take a bit of time to build. However, they have been   established in London since 1993 and intend to roll out this service to any other clients
they have with an EU or French connection.

If any other NCDA members would like help or advice with regard to cross-channel
shipments, please email [email protected] and one of the team will be happy to assist.