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Issue 6 2020 - Freight Business Journal


///UK NORTH EAST


From coal to cars, from steel to soya


With the decline in traditional industries like mining or metals, the freight industry in the North-east has had to find new ways of earning a living. But it is nothing if not adaptable.


Putting the port in the middle of Middlesbrough


AV Dawson was founded in Middlesbrough, has always had the major part of its business there and operates a major shipping facility in the heart of the town. So when the company was looking to rebrand itself, what better name than ‘Port of Middlesbrough’? The company has consulted


both formally and informally with a number of key stakeholders, including with the local authority and Local Enterprise Partnership, with PD Ports – which operates Teesport upriver – and with its users and vessel operators. The change of name has generally been very well received, say AV Dawson commercial and marketing director, Charlie Nettle, and marketing communications manager Anthony Suddes. “Geographically, it locates us in


Middlesbrough, it positions us as a port – and it even aligns with ships’ navigation systems, which tend to show this end of the river Tees as Middlesbrough port, as distinct from Teesport. And I think local people are quite excited by it,” says Nettle. The name will be emblazoned


on a huge hoarding on the side of the company’s vast fabrication


hall on the banks of the river Tees, which will be fl oodlit at night and visible to travellers on the main trunk road and railway through the town. And unlike some ports, the Port of Middlesbrough will indeed be in the heart of the town aſt er which it is named, in the shadow of the iconic transporter bridge and just a mile or so from the main shopping street. The new name also has good


historical precedents. The site was in fact called the port of Middlesbrough in the 19th Century, before being named Dents Wharf and, eventually, Dawson’s Wharf when it passed into the present ownership. However, the AV Dawson name will be retained as a subtitle, just so that no one is leſt scratching their head about the company’s identity. Port of Middlesbrough – or AV


Dawson if you still prefer – has always been adept at reinventing itself, ever since the 1930s when it started out delivering coal with a horse and cart. It is today a very diverse business, providing shipping, warehousing, storage and transport services to sectors such as steel, automotive, off shore, waste and recyclables.


Major physical developments


will coincide with the rebranding, say Nettle and Suddes, including a brand new head offi ce on the quayside. This will house not only the company’s staff , but also those of one of its major tenants. Many of AV Dawson/ Port of Middlesbrough’s staff are currently housed at nearby Arthur Vernon House, adjacent to one of the company’s major steel warehousing operations and this space will in future house the transport department. The draſt at the quayside is also


being increased, from 8 metres to 9.5 metres which will allow larger ships to be handled in greater numbers. Construction has also started


on a massive new quayside plastic processing plant that will take in waste material and turn it into pellets which will then be shipped, in loads of around 5,000 tonnes, so that it can be burnt instead of coal in cement plants in locations all around the world. Shipments are expected to total around 200,000 tonnes a year and will help to ‘green’ the cement industry’s operations. “It’s a massive win for the company, and for Teesside,” says


people are becoming so much more environmentally aware.” The environment indeed


pervades all aspects of life, industry and business these days. Port of Middlesbrough has a major contract to store and supply steel to the Nissan car plant in Sunderland, but over time this can be expected to switch increasingly to aluminium as the automotive


quayside than ever.” The company’s storage sites


have also been kept busy by Brexit, as importers sought to stockpile goods ahead of the various deadlines that came and went over the past year. One other eff ect of Brexit has been the UK’s embracing once more of the Freeport concept and AV Dawson, PD Ports as the


Nettle. “The company concerned chose us because we are on the east coast, but also because we are a can-do company. This will be the fi rst plant in the country exporting that product. It’s also a big part of the local mayor’s agenda to position the region as a clean energy location.” Suddes adds that the Port


of Middlesbrough has also just achieved ISO140001 environmental accreditation for all its operations, and this is being built into all the company’s business plans. “It’s a must-have these days;


industry seeks to lighten its vehicles. Aluminium has rather diff erent storage requirements from steel – although both metals need to be protected from the elements and temperature fl uctuations - and the company is investing in a separate, heated area. However, Nettle does not


see demand for steel reducing signifi cantly; it is still very much used in construction and many other industries. In fact, since the local British Steel plant was purchased by Jingye, “there’s been more steel exported over


our


statutory harbour authority, along with other operators, the local government and other interests have all made submissions to the government consultation that closed in July. Nettle, alongside his boss, Gary Dawson plays a major role in the Tees & Hartlepool Port Users’ Association. He says: “We’re all behind Teesside securing this opportunity; however there are some sensitivities over where the boundaries of a Freeport might be.” It would be tough for any Teesside fi rm that found itself outside the Freeport fence to lose business to a rival a few yards up the road able to off er cost or cash fl ow advantages simply because of its location. Port of Middlesbrough does


already off er bonded warehousing, but freeport tenants might benefi t from other measures such as accelerated planning processes or freedom from local business rates. The user’s association – for which Charlie Nettle is secretary – has managed put forward a consensus view, aſt er long discussions. Many in the region would like the freeport boundaries to be drawn as widely as possible, to include the North Bank of the Tees – and the chemical producing area at Wilton. There is no doubt that a freeport


would be a major plus for the region, as it is likely to become a hub for innovation as well as off ering advantageous VAT and duty terms.


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