After the establishment of Van den Berk UK Limited, the company said: "We consider the approaching Brexit as a serious challenge and we researched the best way to continue the collaboration with our British customers."
Owen said Van den Berk UK was now fully operational and has been well received. He said the company deals with EORI numbers to bring trees into the UK as well as Defra's eDomero system for import licensing. He said Van Den Berk could not access these UK Government portals from overseas. Having a UK company is "taking the risk away from the client" by processing material for them: "We’re taking responsibility away from the client and adding value."
Owen said Van den Berk had been riding high globally for the past last two years. In the UK, the Brexit delay until January means "uncertainty in market place" for long-term residential and infrastructure schemes, some of which have "been slightly delayed. People are watching over their shoulders and not pushing forward as aggressively as two years ago. Orders in the UK are the same as last year. We wanted to increase again but we're seeing more interest in the business than 12 months ago."
