Brexit is back in the news, as the Prime Minister floats options for closer EU alignment and even hints at the possibility of asking the question again.

This is a political tightrope, as his 2024 Party manifesto read: “With Labour, Britain will stay outside of the EU. But to seize the opportunities ahead, we must make Brexit work. We will reset the relationship and seek to deepen ties with our European friends, neighbours and allies.” But it also assured “There will be no return to the single market, the customs union, or freedom of movement.”

And as the Prime Minister calculates the politics, business still strives to mitigate the challenges that arose from the original Brexit vote and the messy divorce that followed. One of the fixes for the 2021 commencement of life-after-separation was the creation of a new, publicly-funded body called the Trader Support Service – TSS.

The original TSS was led by Fujitsu. Five years on, the contract has been re-tendered and is now to be delivered by Netcompany, a Danish specialist technology firm that designs, builds and operates digital infrastructure that underpins essential public services in complex, regulated environments such as customs, aviation and financial services.

Roger Pollen, Head of FSB Northern Ireland.

placeholder image — Roger Pollen, Head of FSB Northern Ireland.

This change of provider will affect every business that uses the TSS, so it is essential to act before the October 20 changeover. Failure to do so may cause delays in moving goods between GB and NI.

Businesses need to look out for the invitation in their email and access the new TSS platform; check their business details are correct; set up user permissions; make sure their haulier, freight forwarder or customs agent is ready to use the new platform; and start using the TSS Practice Environment for familiarity.

All goods movements taking place from October 20 must be submitted through the new TSS platform. The outgoing platform will not accept new movements after that date. Importantly, before the outgoing platform closes, businesses should save any historic movement information for audit and compliance purposes and use the Trader Report Extract Service to obtain a record of relevant historic movements.

As the saying goes: Change is the only constant, but business cannot stand still as that change sweeps around it.