Falsum

What Falsum does

Falsum is a UK-based global trade and customs consultancy founded in 2020, operating as Falsum Group Limited with two wholly-owned subsidiaries (Falsum Labs Limited and Falsum Customs Consulting Limited). The company is headquartered in Thirsk, North Yorkshire, with a regional office in Central London (Bloomsbury Way), and serves UK importers and exporters navigating post-Brexit customs compliance, with particular depth in agrifood and fashion/textiles verticals. The company was founded by Sam Ballard-Robinson, a former Big-4 Global Trade & Customs consultant who has advised HMRC, DEFRA, the Border Delivery Group, and the Food Standards Agency.

The company's core product is a suite of proprietary cloud-based analytics platforms built around MSS (Management Support System) customs data. These include the Duty Management Tool (DMT, £24/month), Customs Analytics Tool (CAT, £20/month), Audit Tool for Import (ATIM), Audit Tool for Export (ATEX, £495/month), and a Customs Warehouse Module (+CWM) bolt-on for bonded warehouse operators. The Duty Management Portal (DMP) operates as a managed-service layer that processes duty reclaims, manages HMRC correspondence, and generates legal documentation. Beyond software, Falsum delivers professional services (customs advisory, process improvement, tax representation, export market access), a multi-channel Trader and Agent/Carrier Helpdesk (tiered at Basic, Executive, Premium subscriptions), and a modular online training catalogue covering UK/EU food imports, organic exports, and partnership onboarding.

The business model blends recurring software subscriptions with professional services and managed reclaim work, distributed through a hybrid go-to-market that pairs direct enterprise sales with a self-service WooCommerce-powered e-commerce store and a referral partner programme. Pricing is granular and accessible at the low end (DMT and CAT at £20-24/month), with higher-value advisory and ATEX subscriptions at the upper tier. Customer mix spans enterprise (UK Food Wholesaler, Premium UK Clothing Brand, UK Manufacturer, UK Foundry) and startup segments (Fashion Start-Up), with quantified outcomes including £150,000+ in duty savings for a food manufacturing client and 147 minutes saved per consignment reclaim.

Name

Falsum

Legal name

Falsum Group Limited

Website

https://falsum.co.uk

Company type

Private

Founded year

2020

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Falsum is a UK-based global trade and customs consultancy offering proprietary cloud analytics platforms, advisory services, modular online training, and a tiered helpdesk to UK importers and exporters, with vertical depth in agrifood and fashion/textiles navigating post-Brexit compliance.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Customs & Trade Compliance Software

NAICS

Accounting, Tax Preparation, Bookkeeping, and Payroll Services (5412)

SIC

Services-Management Services (8741)

akta.pro primary industry

Customs Consulting & Brokerage Outsourcing (Managed Brokerage, Brokerage Operations) (TLACAFAI)

Keywords

• Customs compliance consulting
• Trade analytics software
• Duty management platform
• Customs training courses
• Global trade advisory

Headquarters

HQ city

London

HQ country

United Kingdom

HQ region

Europe

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Analytics Software Subscriptions: Subscription-based revenue from cloud analytics platforms including the Duty Management Tool (DMT), Customs Analytics Tool (CAT), and Audit Tools. Offered on monthly subscription basis with tiered pricing.
2. Professional Services - Customs Advisory: Customs Advisory services including process improvement, stakeholder engagement, tax representation, and customs procedures consulting.
3. Customs Training: Interactive modular online courses and bespoke training programme development for customs and global trade professionals. Includes food/agriculture imports, exporting basics, and partnership training.
4. Helpdesk Services: Multi-channel customs and global trade helpdesk providing expert support and searchable knowledge base for traders, offered at subscription levels (Basic, Executive, Premium).
5. Indirect Tax Reclaims: Managed service for processing Customs Duty and Import VAT reclaims on behalf of traders through the Duty Management Portal.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

Falsum is a UK-based global trade and customs consultancy that sells proprietary cloud-based analytics platforms (Duty Management Tool, Customs Analytics Tool, ATIM/ATEX Audit Tools) alongside customs advisory, managed duty reclaim services, multi-channel helpdesk support, and modular online training courses for importers, exporters, and trade compliance professionals.

Product overview

Falsum is a global trade and customs consultancy offering a platform-plus-services model combining proprietary analytics software with advisory and training services. The core analytics portfolio includes the Duty Management Tool (DMT) for customs duty reclamation, the Customs Analytics Tool (CAT) for compliance insights, and ATIM/ATEX audit tools. The Customs Warehouse Module (+CWM) is a bolt-on for bonded warehouse operators. The Customs & Global Trade Helpdesk provides multi-channel expert support. The training division offers modular online courses covering UK/EU food imports, organic exports, and partnership programmes. The products are delivered via an online client portal with subscription-based pricing.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Duty Management Tool (DMT) A cloud-based online platform for identifying, managing, and reclaiming overpaid Border Taxes including Customs Duty and Import VAT. Automates the reclaim process and presents insights into Border Tax exposure for UK importers and exporters.
• Customs Analytics Tool (CAT) An interactive online analytics solution providing insights into customs compliance, enabling businesses to identify risks, optimize supplier relationships, and benchmark performance against logistics and customs service providers.
• Audit Tool for Import (ATIM) Streamlines the customs audit process for importers by ingesting live business reference data to deliver risk assessments at low resource cost.
• Audit Tool for Export (ATEX) Streamlines the customs audit process for exporters by ingesting live business reference data to deliver risk assessments at low resource cost.
• Customs Warehouse Module (+CWM) A bolt-on analytics dashboard for customs warehouse owners and operators to review customs warehouse (bonded warehouse) compliance and maximisation strategies.
• Trader – Customs & Global Trade Helpdesk Multi-channel helpdesk service providing expert support for traders through import and export compliance, available at Basic, Executive, and Premium subscription levels.
• Agent & Carrier – Customs & Global Trade Helpdesk Multi-channel helpdesk service providing a searchable knowledge base and expert support for customs agents and carriers.
• Importing Food & Agriculture in the UK (Training) Modular online training for importers of UK food and agricultural products, covering UK food import process, GB health certification, border control post process, and IPAFFS.
• Importing Food & Agriculture in the EU (Training) Training course covering the process and requirements for importing food and agriculture products into the European Union.
• Exporting UK Food & Agriculture Globally (Training) Training course covering the process and requirements for exporting UK food and agricultural products to global markets.
• Exporting UK Organic Products to the EU (Training) Expert-level training on exporting UK organic products to the European Union, covering certification and compliance requirements.
• The Basics: Exporting to the World (Training) Intermediate-level introductory course covering the fundamentals of exporting goods to international markets.
• The Basics: Importing into the UK (Training) Course covering the fundamentals of importing goods into the United Kingdom.
• Partnership Agreement – Referral Partners (Training) Beginner-level training covering Falsum's partnership programme, client services, referral procedures, and financial basis for referral partners.

Quantifiable outcome

• 94% of Traders have overpaid Customs Duties & Import VAT in FY20-22
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers7 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature7 records

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Falsum Labs LimitedcoreOthersWholly owned subsidiary of Falsum Group Limited. Responsible for day-to-day performance of certain Services including technology platforms (Duty Management Tool, Customs Analytics Tool). Handles invoicing and payment collection for analytics services.
• Falsum Customs Consulting LimitedcoreOthersWholly owned subsidiary of Falsum Group Limited. Performs certain customs consulting and advisory services on behalf of the parent company.
• UK Higher Education ProvidersminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerFalsum incorporated best practices from UK Higher Education providers in developing their online training courses, adapting their lessons for exceptional learner experiences.
• European Online Training ProvidersminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerFalsum incorporated best practices from Europe's best Online Training providers in developing their modular, self-paced customs and global trade training courses.

Scale indicators7 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Emerging players

• Descartes Visual Compliance: Descartes Visual Compliance offers trade compliance and customs software for classification, screening and duty management. Overlaps with Falsum's customs analytics and audit tools in feature set, though targeted at larger organizations with broader compliance scope.
• Avalara: Avalara provides automated tax compliance software including VAT, customs duty and cross-border tax calculation. Comparable to Falsum's duty reclaim and analytics products from a software functionality standpoint, though Avalara operates at far larger scale globally.
• Thomson Reuters ONESOURCE Global Trade: ONESOURCE Global Trade is an enterprise SaaS platform for customs classification, duty calculation, and trade compliance. Comparable to Falsum's analytics tools (DMT/CAT/ATIM/ATEX) in function, but targeted at large multinationals rather than UK SMEs and mid-market.

Broad incumbents

• KPMG UK Customs & Trade: KPMG's UK Customs & Trade practice offers large-scale customs advisory, indirect tax, and trade compliance services to enterprise clients. Comparable to Falsum in domain (UK-EU customs, duty optimization) but materially larger in team, geographic reach and enterprise relationships.
• EY UK Customs & Trade: EY's Indirect Tax and Customs practice offers trade compliance, customs advisory and supply chain analytics. Comparable to Falsum in customs/import VAT focus, but positioned for large enterprise mandates and integrated into broader EY tax and consulting offerings.
• PwC UK Customs & VAT: PwC's UK Customs & International Trade team provides advisory and compliance services around customs duty, import VAT and post-Brexit trade. Directly comparable to Falsum's advisory proposition but with vastly greater resources and global delivery capability.
• Deloitte UK Customs & Global Trade: Deloitte's Global Trade Advisory practice delivers customs consulting, tax representation and trade analytics to multinationals. Overlaps with Falsum's advisory and analytics offerings but at a much broader enterprise scale and with deeper geographic coverage.

Direct peers

• Crowe UK Customs & VAT: Crowe's UK customs and VAT practice serves mid-market and SME importers/exporters with customs duty and import VAT advisory. Overlaps directly with Falsum's core customer base and service offering, and operates at a similar firm size tier.
• BDO UK Customs & International Trade: BDO's customs and international trade team in the UK provides mid-market-focused customs advisory and compliance services. Closest comparable in target customer profile (UK mid-market importers/exporters) and service scope to Falsum's consulting arm.

Regional players

• Customs Support Group: Customs Support Group is a pan-European customs brokerage and trade services provider offering managed customs declaration and compliance services. Comparable to Falsum's managed duty reclaim and customs advisory offerings, but operates across continental Europe with a broader brokerage footprint.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/falsumconsult
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/falsumconsulting
• Facebookfacebook.com/falsumcustoms

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Subsidiaries2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Falsum