China Factory Sourcing, Run for UK Importers
UK Sourcing Agent — Factory Vetting, Quality Control and UK Compliance
The price you're quoted is not a landed cost — duty, import VAT and the conformity file are what the GB border adds, and we price all three up front.
LeelineGroup runs the whole order as a single engagement: sampling and sign-off, tooling and production control, private label and packaging, then consolidation into one consignment and clearance to your warehouse, 3PL or FBA — so nothing has to be re-solved once the goods are on the water.
Price in pounds, promise the date, and keep the margin that used to leak between the factory and your door.
450+
audited China factories
AQL 0.4
pre-shipment inspection standard
£0
VAT paid at the UK border under PVA
6 wks
brief to a UK delivery address
Where UK Orders Stall
Where a UK order stalls — 3 traps, and only 1 of them is at the border
By the time a consignment is held at the border, the cause is usually weeks upstream. These are the three places UK orders fail, and what we do about each.
- Supplier
The “factory” that is really a trading desk
A polished listing, a fast quote, a perfect sample — and no production line behind any of it. The sub-contracted work is nobody's responsibility.
What we doWe audit on site before a shortlist reaches you, and tell you which steps a factory sub-contracts — so whoever quoted you is who makes the goods.
- Quality
The grade that drifts between sample and bulk
The sample is exactly right; the bulk is a cheaper near-version of it. A lighter fabric, a thinner gauge, a substituted component — invisible until it reaches your warehouse.
What we doThe spec is written down and becomes the acceptance criteria, and the goods are inspected against it through the run rather than once at the end.
- Conformity
Tooling cut before the conformity file exists
Once the mould is made and the artwork printed, a change to the marking or the test evidence means a new tool and a new run. Plenty of orders find that out too late.
What we doThe product regulation is mapped and the test reports commissioned before tooling — so the border is the last place it can surprise you.
Five Scopes, One Owner
Five scopes, 29 checkpoints, one accountable owner
Twenty-nine checkpoints across sourcing, quality, conformity, packaging and the border — all run by one named specialist who answers to you.
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01 Sourcing FOB · DDP quote basisFactory sourcing and vetting
Your brief becomes a factory-ready spec and BOM in Mandarin, and every candidate is audited on site before the shortlist reaches you.
- Brief decoded into a factory-ready spec and BOM
- 4–6 vetted candidates compared per brief, never one quote
- On-site audit: licence, export registration, real line capacity
- Sample validated against the written spec before tooling
- Price, MOQ and payment terms negotiated in Mandarin
- Open-book quote with our fee on a separate line
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02 Quality Control AQL 0.4 inspection standardAQL quality control
Quality is held through the run rather than judged at the end, so a defect is caught while it is still cheap to correct.
- Material and component checks before production opens
- In-process inspection at 25%, 50% and 75% of the run
- A final pre-shipment inspection before the balance clears
- Photo and video evidence at every milestone
- Corrective actions tracked to closure, not to a promise
- Factory audit on the supplier behind the order
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03 Compliance UKCA · CE marking routesUKCA and conformity file
Marking is settled before tooling rather than after artwork, and the technical file is built to what the regulation actually asks for.
- Product regulation mapped to the specific directive or rule
- Test reports arranged with a UK-recognised lab
- Technical file built to the regulation's own annex
- UKCA or CE applied where the rule actually requires it
- UK Responsible Person scoped where the product needs one
- Declaration of Conformity drafted for the signatory
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04 Private Label GS1 · FNSKU barcode formatsPrivate label and packaging
The retail pack, the transit carton and the UK-compliant label are produced with the order, so nothing arrives in a later run.
- Logo, colour and finish proofed on the real material
- Retail and transit packaging developed to your size and weight
- UK labels carrying the responsible person and any warnings
- GS1 barcodes and FNSKU labelling where retail or FBA need them
- Insert cards, manuals and care instructions produced with the run
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05 Freight & Customs CDS declaration systemFreight, customs and UK delivery
Several suppliers become one shipment and one entry, so you clear once instead of five times.
- Suppliers consolidated into one export shipment
- Commodity code and country of origin declared per line
- Duty calculated on the UK Global Tariff before the goods move
- CDS entry filed with Postponed VAT Accounting flagged
- Goods prepped to your UK FBA or 3PL inbound spec
- Delivery booked with proof of delivery back to you
The Paper Trail, in One Place
One border file — every paper the UK has wanted since 2021
A UK entry is decided by documents that all have to agree with each other. We build the whole pack before the goods move, so nothing is left to whoever happens to be at the port.
- EORI (importer of record)
- GB — held by you
- Commodity code
- One per line, UK Global Tariff
- Declaration category
- H1 standard · H7 low value
- Incoterm
- As agreed on the PO
- Country of origin
- Declared, evidence on file
- Net mass and units
- Stated per commodity code
- Duty payable
- UK Global Tariff rate
- VAT accounted for
- PVA — postponed
Importer of record & EORI
The EORI is issued to the importer, so the legal entry is yours. We prepare the declaration data and file the pack; we never file as importer of record on your behalf.
Commodity codes & duty
Every line is classified to a UK Global Tariff commodity code before the PO, so the duty rate is a number you approve rather than one the port decides for you.
Conformity & the UK RP
For cosmetics, toys, electricals and more, the UK Responsible Person must be established here. We map which lines need one; the appointment is made in your name.
Origin & preference evidence
Origin is declared on the entry, so the mill's production records and supplier declarations have to be in hand before the claim is made, not after it is queried.
Declaration, CDS & PVA
The entry is filed on the Customs Declaration Service with Postponed VAT Accounting flagged, so import VAT is declared and recovered on a single return.
Documents & the audit trail
Commercial invoice, packing list, transport document, classification sheet and the entry itself leave as one pack that you can hand to HMRC.
The importer of record is legally the buyer. The EORI, the duty liability and the VAT account all sit in your name — we prepare and file the pack, and we stand behind every classification in it, but we cannot be the importer on your behalf.
From Brief to Cleared Entry
36 hours to a written quote — then five dated milestones to your door
You get the number first, and the schedule with it. Every milestone carries a window, so nothing arrives as a surprise.
- Hours 0–36
Brief & written quote
Spec, quantity and target price read and priced.
- Days 2–7
Factory shortlist & audit
Candidates audited on site before you see them.
- Days 7–21
Sampling & sign-off
Counter-samples checked against your written spec.
- Weeks 3–6
Production & AQL QC
Checks at 25/50/75%, then a final AQL 0.4.
- Week 6
UK entry & delivery
CDS entry filed, VAT postponed, goods delivered.
Marking, Without the Guesswork
UKCA for GB, CE for the EU-27 — the mark your product actually ships with
Most pages still say UKCA is mandatory for everything and CE is finished. Neither is true: marking is decided by the product regulation, product by product.
UK Conformity Assessed
- Applies in
- Great Britain — England, Scotland and Wales
- Who signs the DoC
- The manufacturer or their authorised representative
- Accepted for
- GB-market goods where the product regulation names UKCA
- Watch out for
- UKCA is not accepted in the EU, and not on its own in Northern Ireland
Conformité Européenne
- Applies in
- The EU-27, and Northern Ireland
- Who signs the DoC
- The manufacturer or the EU authorised representative
- Accepted for
- Most goods on the GB market — CE has been accepted across a long list of regulations
- Watch out for
- GB rules can diverge over time, so the CE route is not permanent for every category
GB — UKCA or CE
Both marks are accepted for most goods on the GB market. It is the product regulation that decides which one you have to apply.
Northern Ireland — CE or UKNI
A CE-marked product, or UKNI alongside CE where a UK body carried out the assessment. Never UKCA on its own.
Check the regulation
Marking is set product by product. One brand can need UKCA on one SKU and CE on the next, from the same factory.
This is general guidance, not legal advice on your product. Do not rely on a cut-off date you read somewhere else: confirm the requirement for each commodity code against the current product regulation before tooling is cut or artwork is signed off.
Who Carries the Risk
33 checks behind one cleared UK order — marketplace, trading desk or agent
Buy off a marketplace, order through a UK trading desk, or run it with a team inside China. Only in the third case does someone on your side own the factory, the quality file and the entry.
Outcomes in Two UK Verticals
Two UK verticals, 32% off landed cost — rebuilt line by line
Two categories where the border decides the margin. The before-and-after figures are representative of the shift, not quoted client statistics.
Children's Toys & Nursery
Before
£6.25
Unit landed cost
After
£4.25
Unit landed cost
Consignments arriving with no toy-safety file behind them. Four of the first seven shipments sat at the border, and two were refused entry outright.
We mapped EN 71 to the actual product — age grading, small parts, flammability — and commissioned the reports from a UK-recognised lab before tooling was cut.
Every declaration matched its test reports from the first shipment onwards. Consignments held at the border went from four of seven to none.
Nothing about the product changed. The paperwork simply existed before the order did.
Beauty & Personal Care
Before
£8.40
Unit landed cost
After
£5.71
Unit landed cost
A cosmetics range selling direct to UK consumers with no named UK Responsible Person, no SCPN notification, and a label set copied from an EU template.
We scoped the UK Cosmetics Regulation duties, appointed a UK Responsible Person, filed the SCPN, rebuilt the label block, and classified every SKU so the duty sat in the price.
No consignment has been held since. The label set passes the marketplace's own checks, and the unit landed cost is down 32% on the same factory price.
Nothing was paid for twice — no storage, no re-labelling, no second run of a rejected batch.
The Non-Negotiables
52 weeks on the factory floor — three commitments that don't move
Our team is on the factory floor in China 52 weeks a year, running orders for UK importers. These three commitments shape how each one is run.
Priced in pounds, from quote to delivery
The quote, the purchase order and the final invoice are all in pounds — the same currency your margin is in. You never have to convert a factory invoice to work out what an order actually cost you.
Your EORI, your entry
We cannot be the importer of record, even if you asked us to. Your EORI, your duty history and your customs record stay yours — nothing about your supply chain gets trapped inside an agency.
The paperwork is yours
Every order leaves a record that belongs to you, and we send it as it is produced — you never have to ask an agency for your own documentation.
From UK Importers
49 months on: what two UK importers stopped doing
Two importers, two regulated categories, and the same thing they both stopped doing: opening every consignment themselves.
“Toys are the worst category to get wrong, because the testing is not optional and it is not retroactive. LeelineGroup read our age grading first and had the EN 71 reports in hand before the moulds existed — small parts, flammability, the lot. They classified every SKU, put us on PVA so we stopped paying import VAT at the border and waiting a month to get it back, and inspected through the run plus a final pre-shipment check. Five months in, nothing has been held at the border. I have stopped opening every shipment myself.”
Imogen D. Pettigrew
Founder, Bramblewood Toys
Children's Toys
“Cosmetics into the UK have their own rulebook, and we had copied an EU template that did not match it. LeelineGroup scoped the UK Cosmetics Regulation for us, appointed a UK Responsible Person and filed the SCPN before the next run. On the sourcing side they negotiated in Mandarin, moved us off a broker onto a factory they had audited themselves, and classified every SKU so the duty was inside the price before we committed. Seven months on, no consignment has been held, and I no longer price a launch on a guess.”
Alastair Wickham
Founder, Wickham Botanics
Beauty & Personal CareStraight Answers for UK Importers
Answers in 64 words: the questions UK importers ask before a PO
Do I need an EORI number to import from China?
Only if your company is the importer, which for a commercial order it is. Apply on GOV.UK with your business and VAT details; it is free and HMRC normally issues it within a few days. Add an XI EORI if goods move into or out of Northern Ireland, and get both before the first shipment — nothing clears without one.
What is Postponed VAT Accounting?
The practical part is that two things have to be true, and neither is automatic. Your broker has to tick PVA on the CDS entry, because it is not the default. Your VAT return then has to carry the postponed import VAT, which appears on a monthly HMRC statement. Miss the instruction and you pay at the border instead.
Who classifies the commodity code?
We do, and we write the reasoning down. The real point is what a wrong code costs: a duty rate you overpay on every shipment, or a reassessment that arrives months later with interest attached. We keep the factory's material and process records, so an HMRC query is answered with evidence rather than an opinion.
Does the £135 threshold mean I pay no VAT?
No, and the threshold is narrower than it looks. Below £135 of total consignment value, supply VAT is collected at the point of sale and duty is not charged — but the seller has to be set up to charge it, and a business importing its own stock is not. The £39 gift relief is for genuine gifts between individuals.
Is UKCA mandatory, and does CE still work?
Where the mark goes is the part people get wrong: it belongs on the product, or on its packaging where the product cannot carry it, together with a signed Declaration of Conformity. Some regulations let you self-declare and others require a UK Approved Body to assess the product first, and that is where the cost and the lead time live.
Do I need a UK Responsible Person?
A UK Responsible Person holds the technical file, keeps the Declaration of Conformity and is the name a market surveillance authority or a marketplace contacts when something goes wrong with the product. That is why a mailbox address is not enough. Without one, a listing can be suspended and goods withdrawn from sale.
What quality control standard do you use?
AQL sampling, set at a level that accepts around four defects per thousand units — tight enough to catch a grade substitution before the goods ship. Inspections run at three points in the run rather than only at the end, because a defect found mid-run is a rework and the same defect found after loading is a claim.
What are your MOQs and payment terms?
MOQ is negotiated rather than quoted. A first run of general wholesale can be a single mixed carton; custom tooling is where the real minimum sits, usually in the low hundreds per SKU, and it is set by the mould rather than by the factory. Payment is released against verified production milestones, with the balance against the inspection report.
Talk to a UK-focused team — a cleared UK entry in 38 days
Send the product, the quantity and where it lands in the UK. We'll come back with the commodity code, the duty and the VAT treatment, and a landed cost in pounds — before you place a PO.