The UK is sleepwalking into a digital trade crisis that will choke exports and imports unless ministers put a single body in charge of the evolution of the digital trade border, according to new research from the University of Surrey. The study warns that disconnected digital projects risk creating greater friction, not less, and could see the UK fall behind global competitors in digital trade.

Researchers at Surrey Business School and the Centre for the Decentralised Digital Economy (DECaDE) find that the UK border system is fragmented and no one organisation is responsible for joining up new legislation, technology platforms and on the end-to-end border processes. As a result, businesses face repeated data requests, delays at the border and uncertainty about how new initiatives fit together.

The team examined UK border and trade policies, legislation, programmes and pilot projects since 2017, including the 2025 UK Border Strategy, the Electronic Trade Documents Act and government trials such as the Ecosystem of Trust and Border Trade Demonstrators. They combined this with international case studies and the latest academic thinking on digital platforms and collaborative governance to design a practical framework for reform.

Michael Brookbanks, co-author of the study and Research Fellow at the University of Surrey, said:

"Over the last seven years, the UK has engaged on many pilots and programmes to digitise trade, supported by recent legislation, policy and innovative companies, but there is no one entity driving the adoption of digital trade within the U.K. If we continue to run the border through disconnected change projects, we will keep adding cost and delay for traders instead of creating the trusted, data driven digital border that businesses expect."

Glenn Parry, co-author of the study and Professor of Digital Transformation the University of Surrey said:

"Trade is a team sport. Customs officials, logistics firms and technology providers all want goods to move safely and quickly, but they are working to different goals and standards. Our framework sets out how an honest broker could bring these interests together, co-create solutions and manage the digital platforms that sit behind a modern border."

Dr Carla Bonina, co-author of the study and Associate Professor (Reader) in Entrepreneurship and Innovation at the University of Surrey said:

"Other countries are already using shared data standards and integrated platforms to cut paperwork and improve resilience in their supply chains. If the UK wants a leadership role in digital trade, it must move beyond short pilots and put long term governance in place that supports innovation while protecting public value."

The Surrey team proposes a collaborative governance framework that would guide the evolution of the UK’s cross border ecosystem. It calls on the government to give one entity a clear mandate to orchestrate policy, legislation, processes, digital platforms and data across departments, and to create a shared vision for a digitally enabled border. This would include aligning UK systems with international data standards, improving interoperability between government IT systems and enabling secure two-way data flows with trusted traders.

The report argues that, building on recent trade and industrial strategies, the UK now has a window to develop a new digital “silk road” for goods, where efficient, trusted data sharing allows smaller firms as well as multinationals to trade more easily.