Important Shipping Update: SoftWash UK Suspends Shipping to Northern Ireland

By Mark Cave April 02, 2025

Important Shipping Update: SoftWash UK Suspends Shipping to Northern Ireland

At SoftWash UK, we’ve always taken pride in delivering professional-grade cleaning products and equipment across the UK — from pressure washing pros to softwash specialists and exterior cleaning companies. However, sometimes changes in regulations force us to make tough decisions that affect the way we do business.

We want to be transparent with you about a recent change to our shipping policy.

What’s Changing?

From April 2025, we will no longer be able to ship to Northern Ireland (BT postcodes). This decision hasn’t been made lightly, but it’s due to the upcoming customs and logistics changes introduced under the Windsor Framework, an agreement between the UK and EU that impacts how goods are moved from Great Britain to Northern Ireland.

Why Is This Happening?

The Windsor Framework introduces stricter procedures for shipping goods into Northern Ireland. These include:

Additional customs data for every shipment
New processes depending on whether a delivery is business-to-business (B2B) or business-to-consumer (B2C)
Requirement for UK Internal Market Scheme (UKIMS) registration for B2B movements
More detailed declarations (including EORI numbers, commodity codes, origin of goods, and more)
Increased compliance responsibilities for both sender and courier

In short: It’s no longer as simple as printing a label and dispatching an order. These new requirements add significant time, complexity, and cost to every shipment — especially for specialist chemical products and equipment like ours.

Can You Still Order If You're in Northern Ireland?

As it stands, no — we will not be processing orders for delivery to BT postcodes. This affects both trade and consumer customers.

If you are based in Northern Ireland and have been a loyal SoftWash UK customer, please know this is not a decision we’ve made lightly. We have explored alternative shipping solutions and consulted with carriers, but the new red tape makes it unworkable at this time.

We hope that as systems evolve and third-party couriers adapt, we’ll be able to revisit this in the future.

What Can You Do If You’re Affected?

If you are a business in Northern Ireland and want to prepare for the new framework, we suggest you look into the following:

UKIMS Registration: This scheme allows eligible goods to move between GB and NI without customs duty, but you must apply and be authorised in advance.
Trader Support Service (TSS): A free support platform that helps businesses understand and comply with new customs processes.

These may offer longer-term solutions if the situation changes.

We’re Still Here to Help

While we can’t currently ship to Northern Ireland, our commitment to supporting exterior cleaning professionals across the UK hasn’t changed. We’ll continue to offer expert guidance, trusted softwashing solutions, and specialist equipment — all backed by the experience and knowledge of SoftWash UK.

If you have any questions about these changes or need help sourcing products locally, feel free to get in touch. We’re always happy to point you in the right direction.

— The SoftWash UK Team

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