law
Paris Smith committed to vibrant future for port
and city of Southampton The Port of Southampton contributes £2.5 billion annually to the UK economy. As part of Paris Smith’s 200th anniversary celebrations The Business Magazine sees how the law firm’s client, port owner operator ABP, is committed to ensuring the city and southern region continue benefiting from the port’s success
The UK ports industry ranks as Europe’s largest, according to ABP, which operates 21 in the UK, including the 750-acre Southampton port. “Our activity is divided into four core areas: cars, containers, cruise and commodities,” explained Alastair Welch, Port director.
ABP Southampton is the UK’s number one export port, critical for UK manufacturers, with nearly one million cars, vans, tractors and other industrial vehicles passing through every year. Southampton can handle the world’s largest container ships – in excess of 400 metres long and carrying over 21,000 containers. The port processes 1.1 million containers each year and is the most efficient UK container terminal. Southampton shifts thousands of tonnes of imported commodities like gypsum and animal feed and shiploads of grain exports. The city is also the northern Europe’s number one cruise port, welcoming over two million passengers and 500 ships annually, Red Funnel, which operates at the port also welcomes 3.4 million passengers a year.
A wide range of businesses rely on the port, from shipping agents, transport companies and government bodies, to the caterers, florists and laundry companies who serve the cruise liners. Carnival, with brands P&O and Cunard, employs more than 1,200 people in Southampton and other cruise line companies also have a major presence.
Shared ambitions
Like Paris Smith, ABP is strongly committed to Southampton’s future. Peter Taylor, Paris Smith’s managing partner, said: “ABP has a high level of engagement with the city. Alastair and his team work closely with various partners to improve the fortunes of Southampton. The port is central to creating a legacy for future generations to flourish and prosper.”
Paris Smith has provided legal services to ABP for over a decade. This is centred on property advice and is led by property partner Mark Withers and a team of four lawyers.
Welch commented: “We have hundreds of tenants on the port estate, and on our industrial land at Eling and Marchwood, all a variety of different tenancy and property arrangements. Some are very complex. We work closely with
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businessmag.co.uk Alastair Welch
Paris Smith on a host of property matters that are critical to the port. We have to make sure we maintain very constructive relationships with all our tenants, and be open and transparent on lease terms.”
He added: “Paris Smith people are technically current, commercially astute and able to give us pragmatic commercial advice.”
Cruise control
Southampton’s docks are close to the city centre and the arrival of cruise ships is an impressive sight. “The number of cruise ships coming to Southampton has doubled in the past 10 years to over 500 annually. Southampton City Council estimates that each cruise ship visit brings about £2.5 million to the local and wider economy. We have been investing in improvements for many years and are the only UK port that can accommodate the largest cruise ships,” said Welch.
Of the cruise passengers in Southampton on transit calls, typically around a third will visit the city and another third will go on excursions around the area, while the others might remain on board. Many crew members with a few hours of shore leave head straight to the city’s retail outlets.
“There’s a real opportunity to make the city more attractive to cruise visitors. We are currently working on a six-month project in partnership with the city council, the Chamber of Commerce, and other interested parties to see how we can raise the profile of the city. Southampton has so much to offer,” said Welch.
Auto focus
As well as passengers flocking into the city, another familiar sight around the docks are rows of cars parked on the quayside. The port can accommodate up to 60,000 vehicles with around 60% destined for export, mainly Jaguar Land Rover, BMW Mini and Honda.
THE BUSINESS MAGAZINE – SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2018
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