Celebrating Dutch economic growth following successful second year

As a growth in Dutch exports have helped boost its economy in Q4 2024, Netherlands-based businesses can look forward to stable and prosperous trade, according to European road freight expert.

Celebrating its second anniversary in Rotterdam, Europa Road BV continues to demonstrate its support for Dutch businesses with market-leading transit times and a commitment to customer satisfaction.

Following the company’s investment in a Delivery Duty Paid (DDP) solution to ease customs clearance, Dutch businesses have been able to expand their exporting markets and redress the country’s trade balance.

Europa Road BV was established February 2023 to provide flexible and frictionless logistics options for goods between the Netherlands and the UK. Having already established a presence in Ostend, Belgium, the Benelux team has grown from a standing start, successfully growing its customer base and meeting the demand for full loads, part loads and groupage services.

Dennis Henderson, Sales Branch Manager at Europa Road in Rotterdam, said: “It has taken a while for the Dutch economy to settle following a period of unprecedented challenges. As a key trading nation, the Netherlands is sensitive to geopolitical uncertainty and global conflicts have caused disruption in our supply chains.

“Additional complexity associated with trade post-Brexit has also been a challenge for our customers. While Statistics Netherlands reports that domestic exports to the UK increased in 2024, these exports have fallen behind that to other countries due to new border control measures and the payment of duties.

“To better support Dutch businesses, we have been able to see remarkable progress over two years, increasing our GP growth from Q4 2023 to Q4 2024 by 266 per cent. In part, this is thanks to our customs infrastructure and expertise which helps businesses cut through the customs ‘red tape’ for UK trade and offers firms flexible, efficient and reliable road freight options for full load, part-load, groupage and express vans.”

When Brexit happened, many Dutch businesses temporarily ceased trade with the UK due to the extra complexities around customs clearance and tax changes.

Europa Road BV was set up in Rotterdam to navigate this. With decades of combined experience in European road freight and support teams set up on both sides of the Channel, Europa was able to offer that support efficiently and effectively, bolstering Dutch business in a challenging climate.

Europa Road BV in Rotterdam was soon followed by the launch of its frictionless service Europa Flow. Europa has enhanced its groupage service further, developing more clients in Netherlands under Europa Flow. This service uses DDP incoterms to take care of customs declarations and duty requirements prior to delivery, easing complex administration and improving transit times.

Jack Baxter, Regional Manager Benelux, said: “The Netherlands continues to show modest economic growth with falling inflation rates and positive predictions for 2025 and 2026, according to De Nederlandsche Bank.

“Rotterdam’s team has been crucial in helping Dutch exporters get their goods across Europe and into the UK, booking consignments through Europa Flow for those companies who don’t have the infrastructure to accommodate for customs clearance.

“We can’t wait to see what it can achieve in its third year – hopefully, the strongest yet to come.”

The Rotterdam team, along with the company’s Belgian operation in Oostende has over 400 trailers on Benelux-UK business, performing more than 22,000 crossings of the channel per year for customers across packaging, electrical components, raw materials, construction materials and finished goods to name a few.

UK based Europa Worldwide Group has three divisions – Road, Air & Sea, and Warehouse – and an ever-expanding global footprint. Over the past year the Group has expanded into the Middle East and Asia, with new sites being established in Shanghai, Dubai, Delhi and Shenzhen.