HMRC records show 101 businesses trading internationally from Harpenden over the last six months. It ranks 20 of 31 trading locations in Hertfordshire. Most of that activity sits in electrical machinery and electronics, machinery and mechanical appliances, optical, photographic and medical instruments. Looking ahead, our model expects import activity here to pick up by around 0.7% over the next three months.
Refreshed every 24 hours · last run 25/08/2026 at 11:41HMRC release in view: Jun 26Snapshot: 2026-08-25.1
891Import declarations▼ 0.8% on the 6 months before
357Export declarations
+0.7%Forecast, next 3 monthsBased on 2 years of data
101Trading businesses
Top 10 businesses by 6-month activity Free tier
Ranked by declaration volume and months active. Hover any bar in the 24-month indicators for that month's figures. Log in for keyword search and HMRC category filters across all 101 businesses.
★ Most active in HarpendenFiled more customs declarations than any other Harpenden business over the last six months — roughly 16% of the town's total import activity, mostly in dyes, pigments, paints and inks.
Most active business
LAMBDA PHOTOMETRICS LTD
140 import declarations36 export declarationsAL5 *Ch. 32Ch. 38Ch. 71Ch. 73Active in 6 of the last 6 months
Recent shipments include instruments and apparatus for measuring or checking electrical quantities, specifically for telecommunications, e.g. cross-talk meters, gain measuring instruments, distortion factor meters, psophometers, instruments and apparatus for measuring or checking semiconductor wafers or devices, incl. integrated circuits, optical fibres, optical fibre bundles and cables (excl. made up of individually sheathed fibres of heading 8544).
▲ Expected to increase by 0.0% over the next 3 months, based on their last 2 years
Imports — 2 years of monthly activity140 in the last 6 months
Exports — 2 years of monthly activity36 in the last 6 months
Earlier monthsLast 6 monthsOur forecast for the next 3
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Among the most active
KIT & KIN LTD
7 import declarations18 export declarationsAL5 *Ch. 33Ch. 34Ch. 39Ch. 61Active in 6 of the last 6 months
Recent shipments include sanitary towels (pads) and tampons, napkins and napkin liners, and similar articles, of any material, soap and organic surface-active products and preparations, in the form of bars, cakes, moulded pieces or shapes, and paper, wadding, felt and nonwovens, impregnated, coated or covered with soap or detergent, for toilet use, incl. medicated products, beauty or make-up preparations and preparations for the care of the skin (other than medicaments), incl. sunscreen or suntan preparations (excl. medicaments, lip and eye make-up preparations, manicure or pedicure preparations and make-up or skin care.
▲ Expected to increase by 0.0% over the next 3 months, based on their last 2 years
Imports — 2 years of monthly activity7 in the last 6 months
Exports — 2 years of monthly activity18 in the last 6 months
Earlier monthsLast 6 monthsOur forecast for the next 3
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Among the most active
BOXER SYSTEMS LTD
54 import declarations34 export declarationsAL5 *Ch. 39Ch. 49Ch. 83Ch. 84Active in 6 of the last 6 months
Recent shipments include static converters, electronic integrated circuits as processors and controllers, whether or not combined with memories, converters, logic circuits, amplifiers, clock and timing circuits, or other circuits, units for automatic data-processing machines (excl. processing units, input or output units and storage units).
▲ Expected to increase by 15.4% over the next 3 months, based on their last 2 years
Imports — 2 years of monthly activity54 in the last 6 months
Exports — 2 years of monthly activity34 in the last 6 months
Earlier monthsLast 6 monthsOur forecast for the next 3
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Among the most active
BEST FOODS LIMITED
87 import declarationsImports onlyAL5 *Ch. 02Ch. 04Ch. 07Ch. 08Active in 6 of the last 6 months
Recent shipments include meat or offal of fowls of the species "gallus domesticus", prepared or preserved (excl. sausages and similar products, finely homogenised preparations put up for retail sale as infant food or for dietetic purposes, in containers of a net weight of <=, frozen cuts and edible offal of fowls of the species gallus domesticus, frozen fruit and nuts, uncooked or cooked by steaming or boiling in water, whether or not sweetened (excl. strawberries, raspberries, blackberries, mulberries, loganberries, black, white or red currants and gooseberries).
▲ Expected to increase by 7.7% over the next 3 months, based on their last 2 years
Imports — 2 years of monthly activity87 in the last 6 months
Exports — 2 years of monthly activity0 in the last 6 months
Earlier monthsLast 6 monthsOur forecast for the next 3
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Among the most active
WILLIS PUBLICITY (HARPENDEN) LIMITED
61 import declarations17 export declarationsAL5 *Ch. 39Ch. 40Ch. 42Ch. 44Active in 6 of the last 6 months
Recent shipments include articles of plastics and articles of other materials of heading 3901 to 3914, n.e.s (excl. goods of 9619), statuettes and other ornamental articles, of plastics, statuettes and other ornaments, of base metal, not plated with precious metal (excl. works of art, collectors' pieces and antiques).
▲ Expected to increase by 0.0% over the next 3 months, based on their last 2 years
Imports — 2 years of monthly activity61 in the last 6 months
Exports — 2 years of monthly activity17 in the last 6 months
Earlier monthsLast 6 monthsOur forecast for the next 3
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91 more Harpenden businesses
Every importer and exporter in AL5 with monthly activity, 24-month indicators, forecasts, Companies House records, AI research and validated contact reveals.
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What Harpenden trades
The most frequently declared goods across all 101 businesses in the last six months — useful for picking which trade lanes to prospect.
Meat or offal of fowls of the species "Gallus domesticus", prepared or preserved (excl. sausages and similar products, finely homogenised preparations put up for retail sale as infant food or for dietetic purposes, in containers of a net weight of <=Beauty or make-up preparations and preparations for the care of the skin (other than medicaments), incl. sunscreen or suntan preparations (excl. medicaments, lip and eye make-up preparations, manicure or pedicure preparations and make-up or skin careMachines for the reception, conversion and transmission or regeneration of voice, images or other data, incl. switching and routing apparatus (excl. telephone sets, telephones for cellular networks or for other wireless networks)Articles of plastics and articles of other materials of heading 3901 to 3914, n.e.s (excl. goods of 9619)Thermometers and pyrometers, not combined with other instruments (excl. liquid-filled thermometers for direct reading)Wooden furniture for kitchens (excl. seats)Microtomes; parts and accessories of instruments and apparatus for physical or chemical analysis, instruments and apparatus for measuring or checking viscosity, porosity, expansion, surface tension or the like, instruments and apparatus for measuringFrozen cuts and edible offal of fowls of the species Gallus domesticus
Common questions about trade in Harpenden
How many businesses import or export from Harpenden?
HMRC customs records show 101 businesses in Harpenden (AL5) filed declarations over the last six months — 891 import declarations and 357 export declarations in total. This page is rebuilt every 24 hours as new HMRC data is published.
What do Harpenden businesses import most?
The most common category is electrical machinery and electronics. Across all Harpenden traders the leading goods are meat or offal of fowls of the species "gallus domesticus", prepared or preserved (excl. sausages and similar products, finely homogenised preparations put up for retail sale as infant food or for dietetic purposes, in containers of a net weight of <=, beauty or make-up preparations and preparations for the care of the skin (other than medicaments), incl. sunscreen or suntan preparations (excl. medicaments, lip and eye make-up preparations, manicure or pedicure preparations and make-up or skin care, machines for the reception, conversion and transmission or regeneration of voice, images or other data, incl. switching and routing apparatus (excl. telephone sets, telephones for cellular networks or for other wireless networks), articles of plastics and articles of other materials of heading 3901 to 3914, n.e.s (excl. goods of 9619). You can filter the full list by HMRC category once logged in.
Is trade from Harpenden growing?
Import activity is down 0.8% compared with the previous six months. Our model, which reads two years of monthly history, expects the next three months to rise by roughly 0.7%. That figure is our estimate, not an HMRC projection.
How do I get contact details for Harpenden importers?
Create an account to see all 101 businesses, open their Companies House records, run AI research on their website and buying signals, and reveal validated email and LinkedIn contacts.
Nearby in Hertfordshire
Other Hertfordshire locations with active customs entries.