Northern Powerhouse News

Jouke Schaap, Port Director for Containers at the Port of Liverpool discusses the role Peel Ports plays in fulfilling the Government’s ‘Global North’ ambition, exporting products from the Northern Powerhouse region around the world. For many businesses, exporting requires a leap of faith. Even well-established and successful companies used to trading domestically can shy away from targeting international markets. Often, the biggest hurdle is the unknown. Inexperience in logistics and getting goods from their UK origin to the final destination overseas can result in perceived difficulties – often putting companies off. However, in recent years, we’ve seen the supply chain significantly shift to become much more customer-centric. For example, we’ve transformed how we work.

Peel Ports has hosted the inaugural meeting of the Northern Powerhouse partnership at the Port of Liverpool today (8 December). The initiative is creating a new network to help grow the Northern economy and aims to champion the area’s strengths and promote local developments. Topics at the first meeting included transport and connectivity, the government’s industrial strategy, quality of life improvements and how partners can work together to support the Northern Powerhouse programme. The event was attended by over 40 leading businesses, including Atkins, Barclays, Deloitte, Drax, Siemens and Vodafone, as well as universities, local enterprise partnerships and business organisations.

U.K. shipbuilder Cammell Laird held one of the largest ceremonies in its history when Sir David Attenborough joined more than 1,000 people for the keel laying of the new £150 million polar research vessel. Construction was officially started by the world-renowned naturalist and broadcaster, after whom the ship is named, at the ceremonial event at Cammell Laird’s famous Birkenhead site in Liverpool City Region. Sir David started the keel laying process by initiating the lifting by crane of the first hull unit on to the construction berth.

U.K. Transport Minister, Andrew Jones MP visited the Port of Liverpool Monday, May 16 to view the latest developments at Liverpool2 as the terminal approaches its opening. The Minister, who has responsibility for the strategic roads network and ports, received a tour of the site during a visit to the city to discuss prospective improvements to the major A5036 corridor used by hauliers calling at the Port of Liverpool. “The container shipping industry plays a vital role in the U.K.’s economy, whether putting goods on shop shelves or in helping U.K.

Peel Ports has been recognised for its commitment to environmental stewardship in the delivery of its Manchester Ship Canal project by the prestigious and historic Carmen Awards. The awards, which honour exceptional achievement in industry and individual enterprise, praised the business’ revival of the historic trade route and Victorian engineering masterpiece to build a sustainable platform for modern day growth in the North West. Previous winners include the Highways Agency for the Hindhead Tunnel project and The Mayor of London’s Barclays Cycle Hire Scheme. While the awards reserved particular praise for the Manchester Ship Canal project…

A giant vessel bearing five ‘megamax’ quayside cranes sailed up the River Mersey yesterday destined for the new Liverpool2 container terminal, completing the final stage of its voyage from China. The cranes originally set off from Shanghai in August passing south-east Asia, India, the Arabian Peninsula and Africa via the Cape of Good Hope en route to Liverpool in a journey of over 30,000km (18,000m, 16,400nm). The super-structures were produced by Chinese company, Zhenhua Heavy Industries Co (ZPMC), the largest heavy duty equipment manufacturer in the world, as part of a contract with Peel Ports worth over £100m. A total of eight ship…

The U.K. Government announced Monday that Cammell Laird in Birkenhead has been selected as the preferred bidder to build the nation’s new £200 million polar research ship. The decision follows a 12-month competitive tender process that involved bids from companies in the U.K., Spain, Norway, Singapore and South Korea. The winning project will secure jobs and apprenticeships and provide an economic boost to Merseyside, the shipbuilder noted. The shipyard is expected to cut steel in autumn 2016 and deliver the next generation polar research vessel ready for operation by 2019.

Today’s planning approval for offshore wind energy at Dogger Bank takes the total of consented projects in the North Sea zone to 4.8 gigawatts (GW), almost equal to all the offshore wind capacity now in operation in the U.K. The consented development, Dogger Bank Teesside A&B is part of the Dogger Bank Zone, the largest of the Round 3 zones and the farthest from shore, but also one of the shallowest, with high wind speeds and seabed conditions ideally suited to offshore wind development.