Asia-Europe is Beacon’s biggest trade lane and so establishing a physical presence in Hong Kong is an important strategic development for the company. An ever-growing number of Beacon’s customers have supply partners in China and elsewhere in Asia, and having a presence in the same time zone enables the company to offer superior customer service and better connectivity between importers and exporters. The insights gained from having a local presence also means Beacon can continue to develop its technology for the benefit of both customers and their manufacturers.
Commenting on Beacon’s expansion into Asia, Beacon co-founder and CEO Fraser Robinson said: “It has been an extremely busy year for Beacon; we have more than doubled the size of our team and our customer numbers have also grown significantly. As the world’s leading manufacturing hub, Asia is central to our expansion strategy and we are pleased to have opened an office here and made our first hire. A large proportion of our cargo volumes originate in Asia and it is important to us that we have a local presence to provide better service to our customers and their partners in China and the surrounding areas.
“Proximity to both importer and exporter means better communication, a more real-time customer experience, as well as deeper insights that enhance our platform. The COVID-19 pandemic has further reinforced the need for more sophisticated technology solutions in order to establish more transparent and resilient global supply chains. The opportunity is clear and we will continue to invest in growing our team’s global footprint. Diverse teams make better strategic decisions and it is important to us that our team represents the global and diverse nature of the customers we serve. We are proud that 40% of our team identify as women and we will continue to prioritise diversity and inclusion in all forms as we scale.”
