Liquid Global Group, a UK-based freight forwarding platform and logistics marketplace, is encouraging furniture retailers to simplify their freight requirements as fluctuating costs and constrained capacity continue to squeeze SME margins. The platform connects businesses directly with a marketplace of vetted freight forwarders who bid to win a customer's shipment.

Liquid Global Group is a British family business run by Adam Bullas, bringing ocean, air, road and container haulage together with warehousing, customs clearance and cargo insurance.

The platform is free for UK businesses to use, with no obligation to remain with the platform once a freight partner has been found.

The structural driver is the disproportionate cost exposure faced by furniture retailers moving bulky items, who have less opportunity to spread costs across multiple items in a single container compared with other sectors.

Adam Bullas, who runs Liquid Global Group, said, "What was once a relatively straightforward market has become increasingly complex. Costs fluctuate. Space becomes restricted. Fuel prices rise and fall. Capacity can disappear overnight. And ultimately, UK businesses mainly the SMEs are often left carrying the financial impact. For furniture retailers often working with big bulky items, the challenge can be even greater as there is less opportunity to spread your cost across multiple items in a container."

Bullas said, "Liquid is a family business, built by people with experience on both sides of the supply chain, logistics and retail. We understand the pressures businesses face because we've lived them ourselves and supported numerous furniture retailers over the years. The customer gets choice. Freight forwarders gain access to new opportunities. And, importantly, the customer remains in control."

He added that businesses which find a freight forwarder that works for them are free to build that relationship directly and continue working together, with no charge or ongoing obligation to use the platform.

For the sector, the platform reflects growing demand among SME retailers for tools that offer transparency and choice in a freight market shaped by volatile costs and inconsistent capacity.

Source: Big Furniture Group / Liquid Global Group