Shipping China-England

Hello,

I am going to be starting a very small company importing products from China to the UK. I will be shipping only about 20kg/month, with a box size of maximium 100cm*100cm*50cm. The goods will have a maximum value of $1000, and none will be dangerous/restricted articles - they will be mostly jewellery and paintings.

The question is, will it be better to use a freight forwarding service and customs clearing agent and that type of service, or a more public service like DHL? Are there minimum freight amounts below which customs clearing agents will not bother? Roughly how much are their fees?

Also, does anyone know a lot about exporting from China? Any information/advice would be greatly appreciated.

Does anyone have any good contacts for small-scale shipping from China to the UK? If you could pass them on that would be great, my email is shartry @ hotmail. co. uk (without the spaces!)

Many thanks to anyone who replies,

Stephan Hartry