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Global Trade Desk
The Importers’ PodcastNew episodes on YouTube

Small businesses.
Global pressure.
Real stories.

Global Trade Desk sits down with the founders importing goods into the UK — and asks how they got through COVID, freight chaos, tariffs, currency swings and cost-of-living. The setbacks, the fixes, and the fight to keep trading.

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PRESENTED BYImport Refunds
On the deskREC · 29:47

EPISODE 01 · IN PRODUCTION

~30MINS
1:1FORMAT
UKIMPORTERS

[ 01 ]Inaugural season

We’re recording our first episodes

Season one is in production now. Here’s what’s coming — subscribe on YouTube to catch episode one.

All episodes
EP 01Coming soon
Homeware & interiorsChina → UK

Surviving the freight-cost spike

One of our inaugural episodes — in the studio now. We sit down with a UK homeware importer who watched ocean-freight costs multiply nine-fold, and hear how they held their margins, their customers and their nerve together. Full episode coming soon.

~30 minView episode →
EP 02Coming soon
Food & drinkItaly → UK

Importing through Brexit

In production now for our first season. A specialty food importer takes us through the week trucks sat idle at the border, perishable stock on the line, and a small team learning customs declarations from scratch. Coming soon.

~30 minView episode →
EP 03Coming soon
Furniture & homewareVietnam → UK

The cost-of-living squeeze

One of our inaugural episodes, currently being recorded. Import costs up and demand down at the same time — how a furniture importer managed stock, cashflow and morale through the squeeze. Full episode coming soon.

~30 minView episode →

[ 02 ]Why the desk exists

Importers are small-business heroes. We tell it that way.

Bringing goods into the UK means riding out shocks most people never see — shipping markets, tariff codes, exchange rates, wars, a pandemic. Global Trade Desk gives the founders behind those businesses a proper platform to tell the story: what nearly broke them, and how they got through.

01

The setback

Every episode starts with the moment it got hard — the freight invoice, the border delay, the currency swing, the order that suddenly cost more than it earned.

02

The fight

How the founder actually responded. The repricing, the renegotiation, the new supplier, the sleepless week. The unglamorous work that kept the business trading.

03

The comeback

What they learned, what they'd do differently, and where the business is now. Practical lessons for anyone importing into the UK today.

◆ Presented by our sponsor

This show is brought to you by Import Refunds

Overpaid import duty is more common than you think. Import Refunds reviews your customs entries and reclaims what HMRC owes you — on a no-win, no-fee basis.

See if you're owed a refund →

◆ Be a guest

Import into the UK? We want your story.

If you bring goods in from overseas and you've fought through a tough patch — freight, tariffs, currency, cost-of-living — we'd love to have you on. Free to appear, filmed remotely, and a genuine platform for your business.

Apply to be a guest