Former Volvo and Vodafone customs manager joins Chamber International, bringing benefits of unique experience to exporters
25 April 2023
A top UK customs manager with decades of experience from household names including Volvo and Vodafone has joined Chamber International, to bolster trade advisory services for UK exporters.
Vince Taylor, pictured below, managed customs strategy for Volvo UK during Britain’s exit from the EU, ensuring a constant supply of cars and parts to UK dealers while many other firms struggled to deal with new cross-border protocols and delays.
Vince is also an expert regarding export licences and the shipping of military and so-called “dual use” goods – items which may have unintended military or international security applications. “Dual use” is a complex aspect of international trade, and penalties for infringement can be high – one UK company was fined more than £745,000 earlier this year, for breaching the rules.
As well as lengthy stints with Lockheed Martin, the Ministry of Defence and the French defence giant, Thales, Vince served five years on a national technical committee which influenced EU and UK legislation by lobbying the government on behalf of manufacturers. Known then as the Joint Electronics and Telecommunications Security Export Control Committee (JETSECC), the Trade and Customs Compliance Group is organised by TechUK, a trade association with more than 940 member companies in the technology sector.
By joining Chamber International, Vince is making his experience available to businesses, including small and medium-sized firms who might not have the resources to employ a specialist directly. Dual-use rules are not just an issue for companies in the defence sector, which according to government figures accounted for £8.22bn of exports in 2022 and supports more than 100,000 highly-skilled jobs in the UK, it is also a potential minefield for others who don’t realise that the components they make may potentially have a military use.
Arriving at Chamber International’s headquarters from his most recent role as compliance manager for Oxford-based cybersecurity and cryptography firm PQ Shield, Vince said, “I am pleased to have this opportunity to provide support for SME exporters. International trade expertise should be available for companies of all sizes. After all, when it comes to customs issues, small companies have to deal with all the same regulations that large ones do.”
Chamber International director Tim Bailey said, “At a time when global instability is affecting international supply chains, Vince’s unique mix of experience and skills, including his expertise in the difficult area of dual-use goods, will be of great value to exporters as they seek to grow their business in overseas markets. People with his breadth of knowledge are hard to find, and we are excited that he is joining Chamber International.”
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