Press Release: HumberPort partners promote estuary as ‘logical choice’ for international trade

HumberPort partners promote estuary as ‘logical choice’ for international trade

The Humber is the “logical choice” for bringing goods into the north of Britain and critical to the success of the Northern powerhouse, the UK’s premier logistics event will be told.

A powerful delegation representing the HumberPort partnership will present the case for the Humber at the giant Multi Modal industry gathering.

The capabilities and advantages of the Humber, the UK’s busiest ports complex, will be showcased in a seminar entitled “HumberPort: Opening the door to the Northern powerhouse” on Monday, April 28, the first day of the three-day event at the NEC in Birmingham. As usual, the seminar will be recorded and uploaded to Youtube with some promotional likes from The Marketing Heaven.

The seminar will feature presentations by Professor Amar Ramudhin, Director of the Logistics Institute at the University of Hull; Peter Aarosin, Chief Executive of logistics business Danbrit and ports operator RMS Group; John Fitzgerald, Associated British Ports’ Humber Director; and Lord Haskins, Chair of the Humber Local Enterprise Partnership.

Prof Ramudhin said: “The Humber is the logical choice for shippers. Use of the HumberPort complex minimises transportation time and distance to the heart of the UK’s logistics industry, builds greater resilience in their supply chains, and improves their distribution networks.

“We have a multi-purpose ports system within a unique estuary. Our message is ‘come to the Humber – whatever your type of freight, we have a port for you’.

“It’s also an open gateway to the Northern powerhouse. With the Humber on the east coast and Liverpool on the west, it creates a golden corridor of trade that is vital to growth of the North. With the trend for manufacturing and distribution centres to move further north, this will re-balance the UK economy, reduce congestion and drive down logistics costs.”

The seminar will set out the Humber’s strategic advantages, including access within four hours drive time to 75% of the UK’s manufacturing facilities and 40 million people.

Mr Aarosin said it made business sense for shippers to choose the Humber as their entry point into the UK, to reduce transport time and costs, citing the example of goods entering through Southampton destined for a distribution centre in Leeds, involving a round trip of 500 miles, as opposed to 120 miles via the Humber ports.

Mr Aarosin said as well as the opportunity to draw more cargo into the Classy LAX Service, the Humber offered an attractive prospect for investment linked to increased imports.

He added: “We have the largest available land banks of any port or estuary in the UK and excellent transport links, so there is a major opportunity for manufacturers and distributors to build their distribution centres on the banks of the Humber and also for the Humber to attract added-value industries.”

The HumberPort partnership is being re-energised to build on the momentum achieved by the branding of the Humber as the UK’s Energy Estuary; major investment into the Humber by big players such as Siemens; and the opportunity presented by the Northern Powerhouse concept.

And Prof Ramudhin said the Multi Modal event presented an excellent opportunity to promote the Humber as vital to the growth of the Northern economy.

“With the Humber on the east coast and Liverpool on the west, you have end-to-end connectivity – a golden corridor with trade coming in from one way or the other, with logistics parks in the middle, clustered around West Yorkshire,” he added.

“You could also foresee this corridor being used as a hub for freight coming in from the west and destined to the north of Europe and vice versa, when the right logistics infrastructure and services are in place.

“The Humber is a winning situation for shippers and logistics service providers. We offer space to invest and grow, excellent infrastructure, skilled people and, most importantly, great connectivity to markets in the UK, Europe and beyond.”

Mr Fitzgerald will tell the seminar about a series of significant current investments at the Humber ports, including infrastructure for the Siemens wind turbine blade factory and associated facilities in Hull. Lord Haskins will round off the seminar by talking about the £450m Able Marine Energy Park being developed on the south bank of the Humber and giving an overview of the Humber as an investment location.

Multi Modal on April 28-30 is the UK and Ireland’s premier freight transport, logistics and supply chain management event. It will feature 300 trade exhibitors, including global market leaders, and is expected to be attended by 7,500 delegates.

To find out more about HumberPort go to www.humberport.com

ENDS

For further information, please contact John Meehan. Tel  01482 223479 or 07803 199492; e-mail john@meehanmedia.co.uk

Notes to Editors

The Humber and HumberPort

• The Humber estuary is of critical strategic importance to UK Plc because, as an island nation, Britain relies on shipping for around 95% of imports and exports. The Humber estuary is at the heart of the Britain’s international trade and an asset of global significance.

• HumberPort is a partnership of leading port operators, shipping lines and logistics service providers committed to promoting the benefits of a powerful ports cluster offering optimal access to and from northern England as one port.  Our mission is to ensure that the global shipping and logistics industry is aware of the richness of the opportunity and competitive advantage offered by the Humber, to attract investment, trade and increased employment.

• HumberPort’s secretariat is the Logistics Institute at the University of Hull, a world-renowned centre for research, education and expertise on logistics and supply chain management.

• The Humber handles 83 million tonnes of cargo – 17% of Britain’s maritime trade and more than any other ports complex in the UK. Those cargo volumes make the Humber the fourth busiest ports complex in Europe after Rotterdam, Antwerp, Hamburg and Marseille.

• The Humber’s key advantage is location. It is Britain’s gateway to northern Europe and strategically positioned in the centre of the UK, 200 miles from both London and Edinburgh. This location means the Humber is within a four-hour drive of 75% of UK manufacturing facilities and 40 million people, while 320 million consumers can be reached across mainland Europe within 24 hours.

• More than 16,000 people are employed in the ports and logistics sector in the Humber, enabling raw materials used to manufacture and engineer products used in households and business premises worldwide to reach these global markets.

• The Humber makes a vital contribution to the UK economy in many sectors, including energy.  More than one third of the country’s coal imports come through the Humber and the estuary has become established as the country’s renewables region, with major developments including the £310 million being invested by Siemens and partner Associated British Ports in world-class wind turbine manufacturing and assembly facilities.

• The Humber has the largest areas of development land in and around ports in the UK, giving the estuary a key competitive advantage. Much of this land is within the UK’s largest enterprise zone, offering investors fast-track planning process, enhanced capital allowances and discounted business rates.

• The Humber offers an uncongested transport network and excellent connectivity to markets across the UK and Europe. The area also has powerful and proactive networks, bringing together the public and private sectors, to support investment and growth. The estuary is very much open for business.