HUMBER\\\ A river of untapped potential


Like many rivers and estuaries, the Humber is more than just a physical dividing line. Although united for a few years in the county of Humberside, the Yorkshire and Lincolnshire banks have preferred to go their own way. But this isn’t the best way to run one of the UK’s biggest port complexes – hence the HumberPort initiative to bring both banks under a single marketing umbrella.


Issue 4 2012


27 Ready, willing and Able


The driving force behind the biggest manufacturing and logistics development on the Humber is Able UK. But paradoxically, this privately- owned firm began life by knocking buildings down, not putting them up. Group development executive


David Shepherd explains: “Able is one of the market leaders in demolition for large structures like power stations – but it also bought land underneath the things it demolished, and so it also became a big land developer.” The company then became increasingly involved in various aspects of the marine industry, including some of the Europe’s biggest dry docks on the Tees. Able Group acquired over 800


North and South unite to push ports industry


Taken as a whole, the Humber is the UK’s biggest port complex in tonnage terms – but the north and south banks of the estuary have not always pulled together, says Bill Walker, the interim chair of HumberPort. “There have been years of North versus South bank,” says Mr Walker, who is also director of enterprise and knowledge exchange at the University of Hull. The old county of Humberside –


which unified the two banks of the river for a couple of decades – was abolished several years ago, but the business argument for unity has always been a sound one, Bill Walker contends. What is different about


HumberPort, he says, is that it is led and funded by business, not the public sector: “Most of the previous attempts


to pull together were


publicly-funded and involved local authorities. They tended to get public money - which then ran out.” Involving businesses also helps


to take the politics out of the process, explains Mr Walker. “Businesses needed to feel ownership of the process, so we we ended up creating HumberPort here in the University.” All


the big players of the local


freight and shipping industry are included, such as ABP, Able UK, P&O Ferrymasters, DFDS, Danbrit, North Sea RoRo and East Trans. HumberPort’s ultimate aim, he


says, is to ensure that the Humber economy benefits from the huge volumes of freight that flow through it every day. While other areas of the country such as Teesside have reaped the rewards of the move to Port Centric distribution, this revolution has largely passed Humberside by – at least so far. There are a few companies with major logistics operations in the area, such Arco, Reckitt & Coleman


and Smith & Nephew but these are old-established Humberside firms; with the exception of B&Q, scarcely any firms from outside the area have chosen to locate major distribution centres in the region. Doncaster, about 50 miles away, has in contrast turned itself into a major distribution hub, as companies sought alternatives to high rents in the Midlands ‘Golden Triangle’ area - but there is no reason why Humberside shouldn’t be able to emulate this. After all, the place is slap bang in the middle of the country, a factor that Bill Walker feels has been underplayed in the past.


What has been lacking, Walker


believes, has been the political and economical will to make things happen, as exemplified by Teesport. “There, it was the supply chain of big retailers like Tesco that drove it. But there’s no reason why the same thing couldn’t happen in Humberside.” Head of economic development


at Hull City Council Mark Jones says: “we’re entirely supportive of HumberPort.” It’s a way of getting the Humber as a whole onto the global radar in a way that might be harder for its component parts. The Humber, he says, could emulate organisations like the Port of Rotterdam Promotion Council or the Assiport organisation that performs a similar function in Antwerp. It would also be an opportunity to


align the existing strong relationships - between Hull and Rotterdam, for example - with the wider Humber estuary. The different ports and enterprises on the Humber would also be able to market themselves under a single banner. Hull already has strong existing links with Rotterdam, Zeebrugge, Iceland and Poland; these could be used for the wider benefit of Humberside as a


hectares of land at Killingholme on the south bank of the Humber, next to Immingham port. This forms Able Humber Port which consists of a Marine Energy Park (320ha) and a Logistics Park (270ha). The former would,


subject to the necessary


permissions being obtained through the Major Infrastructure Planning Unit (MIPU) become the UK’s largest purpose-built base for the offshore wind industry, with berths capable of being dredged to 17 metres and with quaysides capable of handling structures weighing hundreds of tonnes. The Logistics Park, which has achieved planning permission, would ultimately comprise 270ha of


developable land . “The overall footprint of Able


Humber Port is about three times the size of London Gateway,” David Shepherd points out. The Logistics Park will comprise a mixture of warehousing, distribution (big sheds) and external storage and the idea has excited a lot of interest among major European distribution companies, he says. “With what’s coming, they all see the benefits of having something in the Humber.” Physical work could start towards


the end of 2012 and the first property could be available for occupation in 2013, though it will be driven by the market. Sheds could be on a par with anything available at Magna Park or Thames Gateway. Moreover, Shepherd points out, “a lot of leases elsewhere in the country are coming up for renewal” - so many companies will be taking a look at their logistics and distribution strategy. He concludes: “This is a very development that will


exciting


provide thousands of proper jobs. And I think it will help the Humber become much higher profile. After all, this is the widest estuary in the UK, it’s got the capacity and the transport links. But the region needs to be doing more, and as the pendulum swings more from austerity to growth in the UK economy, it’s developments like this that could provide it.”


Transatlantic completes move to Hull


whole. The first task, Mark Jones says,


“is internal marketing within the Humber. We have a strong nucleus of companies now but we need to get others on board” – not just companies from the ports and logistics sector but the wider business and industrial community on Humberside. Major industries in the


region include chemicals and petrochemicals, oil refining, power generation, healthcare and the food sector. The Humber is surrounded on one side by the sea and the other by green fields, so there are plenty of food processors in Grimsby, for example. Another important industry is caravan manufacture, which was badly hit by the crisis but has now been revived thanks to local financing initiatives which has helped many manufacturers get back on their feet again. The region was hit by the banking


and credit crisis in 2008, says Mark Jones. While there are tentative signs of recovery, ultimately this depends on the still fragile and unpredictable European economy. “However, trade through the port is holding up well,” Mark Jones says. The trick now is to try and ensure


that some of the business that passes through the port creates added value activity and hence jobs in the local economy. “A lot of it does, in the chemical and petrochemical industry, but we could always do more,” Mark Jones explains. Hull itself is awaiting the outcome


of the plans by Siemens to build a wind turbine assembly plant in the local port. Mr Jones says that a final decision on whether the scheme, which could create 740 jobs in itself plus many others in the supply chain, is expected later thus year. “We’re hopeful, but I don’t have many fingernails left.”


Transatlantic recently celebrated the move of its UK terminal from Goole to Hull, reports the Swedish- owned company’s UK managing director, Nick Green. It means that ships will be able to access the port 24 hours a day, with full cargo loads. “Before, we were limited by the tide, which could impact our schedules,” says Green. “It gives us better capacity in terms of scheduling and reliability.” The river tidal window was oſten only a few hours and ships frequently had to divert to Immingham. Transatlantic is for the time


being operating the same ships but the way is now clear to increase vessel size. Transatlantic – as its name implies – has worldwide interests and larger ships in its existing fleet, some of which could be moved to its UK routes at a suitable juncture. It has also completed a restructuring of its industrial division which will help break down organisational silos and allow it to operate in a much more integrated way, says Nick


Green. Transatlantic is operating from two locations in Hull


–


the main container terminal at King George Dock and at Albert Dock, which is suited to some types of conventional cargo. Services run to Vasteras and Norrköping in eastern Sweden and Ahus in southern Sweden (not to be confused with Aarhus in Denmark). While essentially a unitised service, the ships and terminals can handle conventional and breakbulk cargo and ships from Transatlantic’s bulk division also bring in steel and timber from Finland. Transatlantic is operating


two Liebherr mobile cranes on King George Dock in Hull with liſt capacity up to 95 tonnes. The company is also keen to develop its third-party stevedoring business, especially with the hoped for opening of the Siemens wind turbine factory at nearby Alexander Dock.


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