President’s Report
Sir Peter Bottomley, MP President
As the President of BIFA, I am delighted to present the trade association’s Annual Report for 2021 which provides a good opportunity to reflect on the issues that affected the sector and the work done by BIFA to help Members deal with them.
As BIFA President, I thank the Secretariat, Policy Groups and Regional Groups for the work that they did in 2021, much of which is covered in this Annual Report, which is once again an informative and useful read.
Our own qualified staff delivered live training sessions reaching all corners of the UK using videoconferencing, with over 400 delegates achieving BTEC certificates in 2021. There was also renewed impetus to encourage BIFA Members to consider recruiting youngsters onto the specific industry-related apprenticeship that the trade association played an integral role in developing. Another is that the Young Forwarder Network (YFN), set up in 2019 as part of BIFA’s ongoing efforts to attract youngsters into the freight forwarding sector, continued to go from strength to strength in 2021, developing an affinity for the Association from the grass roots, and driving a personal development agenda for individuals rather than the old ‘top down’ approach.
the issues that face the management of the supply chains that underpin the UK’s international trade, we did not underestimate the scale of the challenges that the trade association’s Members faced from both EU-Exit and the ongoing pandemic. Much of the year was spent in making plans and delivering advice about all the new rules and policies that came into place during the course of 2021, as well as those that would be introduced in 2022, concerning trade between the EU and Great Britain. Whilst 2021 was characterised by uncertainties, not least of which were those surrounding the phased roll out programme that will see CHIEF replaced by CDS in the customs entry processing environment, there can be no doubt about the success of BIFA’s CDS eLearning training programme, which launched in September 2021 to educate users on the main differences between CHIEF and CDS. 2021 presented us with a couple of other certainties: One is that the huge increase in BIFA’s training activities over the past few years continued unabated in spite of the difficulties
When I consider the issues that faced Members during the year, either in their private or business lives, I am reminded of that old saying: “Uncertainty is the only certainty there is.” What a tumultuous year 2021 was, in which Britain’s freight forwarding and logistics industry faced uncertainties; and a stream of challenges (many of which are covered in the pages of the 2021 Annual Report, providing a good reflection of the year that has passed) but proceeded as calmly as possible, delivering the goods. Whatever your view on Great Britain’s departure from the EU, there can be no doubting the dramatic effect that it has had, and continues to have, on the UK’s supply chains and the work the freight forwarding community undertakes to manage them. Coupled with the massive impact that the pandemic continued to have on all modes of transport in 2021, I am left wondering whether there was ever a more challenging time to work in the freight forwarding profession. Whilst BIFA remained committed to supporting the Government in shaping practical solutions to
presented by varying COVID-19 restrictions.
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bifa.org | BIFA Annual Report & Accounts 2021
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