A compliance engine built for duty recovery. Not a general-purpose customs service.
Most customs brokers handle import declarations well. Structured duty recovery on returns and re-exports is a different discipline: it requires MRN matching at scale, audit-ready evidence packs, and a filing workflow that holds up to HMRC scrutiny. The Meridian Compliance Engine (MCE) is built specifically for that.
Four structural differences. Not incremental improvements.
These are not features. They are fundamental differences in how duty recovery is delivered and priced.
Performance-based pricing
No recovery, no fee. Our success fee is tied to what we actually recover. Traditional brokers typically charge hourly or flat retainers regardless of outcome.
Multi-route audit in one pass
We check RGR, Customs Drawback, and duty overpayments simultaneously. Running a single audit across all three routes means nothing gets missed and you get a complete picture of every pound recoverable.
Full transparency, not a black box
You see every case, every exception, and every filing outcome in real time via the Meridian Compliance Engine. No waiting for a monthly email. No guessing what happened to your claim.
3-year lookback as standard
We recover missed relief going back up to 3 years. Historical recovery is often where the biggest opportunity sits, and it requires the same structured audit process as live recovery.
Side by side: every dimension that matters.
We built this comparison from real conversations with businesses who switched from traditional brokers to Meridian.
Traditional broker | Meridian | |
|---|---|---|
| Approach | Manual spreadsheets, email chains, and reactive filing | Compliance-led platform with automated MRN matching, evidence packs, and CDS filing |
| Evidence packs | Assembled manually, often incomplete or inconsistent | Auto-assembled, checklist-driven, version-controlled, and QA'd before filing |
| MRN matching | Manual lookup across disconnected systems, slow and error-prone | Multi-layer matching algorithm with structured exception queues |
| Audit trail | Scattered across emails, spreadsheets, and filing cabinets | Immutable audit log with every action timestamped and traceable |
| Exception handling | Ad hoc, often lost in email threads with no structured resolution | Structured triage with clear ownership, severity, and resolution tracking |
| Reporting | Periodic, often delayed, limited visibility on pipeline value | Real-time dashboard: recovered, pending, pipeline, and compliance health |
| Coverage | Typically RGR only, re-export and overpayments not covered | RGR, Customs Drawback, duty overpayments, and re-export compliance in one audit |
| Pricing model | Hourly or flat retainer regardless of outcome | Performance-based: no recovery, no fee. Pricing tailored to your volume |
| Data readiness | Clean data expected upfront; gaps are your problem to resolve | Data readiness assessment included. We help recover missing MRNs and align schemas |
| Scale | Manual capacity limits throughput; backlogs common at high volumes | MCE processes hundreds of returns in minutes. Scales with your volume |
Questions we hear from businesses already using a broker.
We already have a customs broker. Why would we need Meridian?
You don’t need to replace your broker. Meridian operates as your Direct Customs Representative specifically for duty and VAT recovery on returns and re-exports. Most brokers handle import declarations but don’t run a structured RGR or Drawback recovery programme. We fill that gap, and we only charge when we recover.
Our broker says they handle RGR. Isn’t that enough?
Filing a single RGR declaration is straightforward. Running a compliant, scalable recovery programme across hundreds of returns, matching each one to an export MRN, assembling HMRC-ready evidence packs, handling exceptions, and reporting on recovery value, requires infrastructure, not a spreadsheet. That’s what the Meridian Compliance Engine does.
Is Meridian a broker or a software company?
Both. We are a compliance-led platform that also operates as your Direct Customs Representative. You get the automation and compliance infrastructure of a software platform, and the direct filing capability of a customs representative. One contract, one point of accountability.
What if our data is messy or incomplete?
That’s the most common starting point. We run a data readiness assessment as part of onboarding, identify gaps, and work with you to recover missing references and align schemas before any claims are filed. Clean data is the output of our process, not a prerequisite.
See the MCE in action.
We'll map your current returns flow, show you the matching engine and evidence pack workflow, and give you a clear view of what recovery looks like for your business. No commitment. No cost.