Hybrid Customs Skills Workshops

Trade & Borders Hybrid Workshops are a unique mix of small group training and 1-2-1 consulting. They are designed to deliver practical skills that participants can apply in their day-to-day work straight away. Each course is bespoke – built around participants’ level of knowledge, their industry and goods.

This customs training service provides the knowledge you need to deal with future issues and the consultancy support that gives you additional confidence regarding your current practice. The workshops are delivered in an accessible and simple to follow way and in a small group. You will learn a step-by-step process used by consultants and customs officers as well as tips and tricks that will help you in your day-to-day work.

The Hybrid Workshops upskill in-house customs practitioners of all levels of experience – from beginners to advanced. We’ll train existing staff to deal with future classification or origin questions in-house, without the need to pay for lengthy consultations by external advisors each time. The goal is not only to help your company be compliant but also to minimise your duty bill, whilst avoiding costly penalty charges.

No other course on the market focuses on sharing practical skills in this way.

You might have attended a customs webinar or course in the past and not felt like you were able to apply what you’ve seen and heard. Most webinars focus on issues in theory with few practical examples, which fail to relate to participants’ day-to-day work.

Hybrid Customs Skills Workshops:

1)          Teach a step-by-step process of how a professional customs consultant or a customs officer would go about classifying a product or determining its origin. These are skills you can start applying in practice straight away.

2)          Bespoke and adjusted to the participants’ level of understanding and industry.

3)          Up to five participants per session. Small groups allow for a proper deep-dive and ensure that all participants will be fully engaged.

The hybrid workshops are delivered by a globally recognised customs consultant and coach who has developed and delivered courses for many private sector clients, UK Government Departments, the United Nations agency, and is currently working with HMRC. On the day you will be provided with in-depth and topical coverage in a relaxed but professional setting.

About your coach

Each Hybrid Customs Skills Workshop includes:

• An initial email or call: to establish the level of knowledge, find out more about the company and to ask for examples that can be used during the workshop. This is a chance for the company to outline any specific questions or issues they’d like the workshop to address.
• A one-day customs workshop: held either online or at the company’s premises (if all participants are from the same company). Participants learn about rules relating to their own industries and discuss case studies that are built around examples and questions provided by them before the workshop.
• Follow-up 1-2-1 consulting service: participants have the option to have a follow-up 1-2-1 consulting call to discuss any outstanding questions, go over commercially sensitive issues or work through a practical example from their organisation.

There are two hybrid workshops available: one on goods classification, and the other on rules of origin. Classification and determining origin are the most fundamental tasks a company needs to be able to perform correctly in order to be compliant with customs rules.