Importing goods from S.E.Asia

[Shaolin]

I'm thinking of importing some stuff to sell from a manufacturer in Vietnam I found on Alibaba. They seem kosher, established, good reputation and only communicated via the internal Alibaba comms. I've had costs from them to get it all on a ship, but I need to deal with it when it gets to Felixstowe. It's very small scale at the moment as a look-see as to if it's viable to scale up. I haven't yet placed an order or paid anything.

Is there a simple guide as to what I need to do that anyone knows about? I've read about using an agent to do things at this end, is it worth while or is this am area I could do myself to save costs?

Any pointers appreciated.