Peel Ports joins Northern Powerhouse partnership
PORT of Liverpool owner, Peel Ports, has become one of the latest members of the Government’s Northern Powerhouse Partnership Programme.
The programme has been created with the aiming of fostering a new network of leaders who strongly believe in the potential to grow the Northern economy and are committed to delivering this growth.
The initiative aims to champion the North’s strengths, as well as promote local developments across transport, skills and innovation, culture, and devolution.
The UK Government’s plan to boost economic growth across the North of England, a region of over 15 million people, aims to draw on the strengths of the regions, cities, towns and rural communities to drive the development of a Northern Powerhouse, creating an economic counter-balance to London and the South East.
A long-term advocate of the initiative, Peel Ports’ flagship project – the £400m Liverpool2 container terminal – is due to be officially opened later this week.
Liverpool is already the UK’s largest transatlantic port and will be one of Europe’s most modern container terminals.
Chief secretary to the Treasury, David Gauke, said: “We are determined to create a Northern Powerhouse and are clear we must work closely with businesses to pool the abundance of talent across the North to make this a reality.
“Today dozens of bold businesses are sending a clear message by joining us in this quest to make the Northern Powerhouse an even better place to live, work and invest in.
“But this is just the start, and I would encourage other leading companies to sign up to our new scheme so we can continue to work together to unleash the full potential of our great northern towns and cities.”
Peel Ports chief executive Mark Whitworth said: “Our partnership with the UK Government is further evidence of our mutual ambitions to enable the North to thrive economically and to attract investment and innovation to the region.
“This agreement comes at a significant time of transition for both the UK Government and Peel Ports and we look forward to continuing our collaborative relationship together in the interests of securing the success of the Northern Powerhouse initiative.
“Our £400m investment in Liverpool2 encapsulates the Northern Powerhouse vision. Ports are fundamental to the performance of the entire UK economy and this represents a massive growth opportunity, particularly for the northern economy.
“With the imminent opening of Liverpool2, global shippers will be granted ‘ship-to-door’ access to the UK’s major import centres via the most economic and lowest carbon route and provide northern UK-based exporters with a more competitive route to market.”
In June, Peel Ports endorsed a call by leading think tank, IPPR North, for closer co-operation between ports, supply chain operators and logistics companies based in the North of England to nurture vital economic sectors and take advantage of global opportunities.
Responding to IPPR North’s wide-ranging research report ‘Gateways to the Northern Powerhouse – a Northern Port Strategy’, the port operator also advocated further investment in multimodal distribution capabilities and skills development to secure future growth for the region.
