Since Brexit and the pandemic restrictions, the UK's freight forwarding agent community has struggled to recruit new, experienced staff.

A solution is understood to be provided by recruitment agency Manpower, which has placed some of its experienced Hong Kong staff in UK companies.

Staff shortages in many departments mean higher costs, but while labor costs are critical, experience is another core requirement for many in the freight forwarding agent department.

Family-run British freight forwarding agent Southampton Freight Services (SFS) found a solution by hiring new staff from Hong Kong.

MD Ross Negus said: "I can fill a company with inexperienced people, but I need them to already have some understanding of the business."

He explained that SFS recruited inexperienced junior staff and received applications from others who were very experienced "who have managed large companies with 30 or 40 employees." "But they're not what we want," he added.

SFS has loyal staff, some of whom have been with the company for up to 20 years, and Mr Negus hopes there will be more experienced staff willing to stick around. His search ended last fall when ManpowerGroup found Lesley and David, both from Hong Kong with 10 and 16 years of freight experience, respectively.

“Lesley started in our import department, handling air, sea, road and express shipments, and David joined our air export team. They both settled down quickly and their work ethic is evident,” Mr Negus said.

Following recent political changes, the pair entered the UK under the British National Overseas (BNO) scheme for Hong Kong citizens wishing to leave Chinese soil. A BNO visa means they already have the right to stay and work in the UK.

However, one of their drawbacks is that they have no customs clearance experience in Hong Kong.

"We need to teach them how to do the job, and of course they need to understand the local market conditions. But anyone needs to do that, it's going to be different working in Edinburgh than at Heathrow, but they're eager to learn," Mr Negus said.