Maritime-Brieifing-News

Businesses leaders from 25 of Merseyside’s foremost Maritime Sector companies met with Cllr Joe Anderson, Leader of the Liverpool City Region Cabinet, last Monday (September 13, 2010), for a Maritime Business Briefing to highlight the importance of the sector.

Cllr Anderson has made no secret of his desire to engage more closely with the private sector and opened the session by acknowledging the massive contribution that the Maritime Sector makes to the health and economic development of the Liverpool City Region.

In a two hour briefing chaired by Ian Higby, Managing Director of Atlantic Container Line (UK), in his role as chairman of Mersey Maritime, Cllr Anderson outlined his vision for the Liverpool City Region under his leadership and stressed the importance of private sector-led support in helping to make it happen.

Cllr Anderson had requested the meeting in order to better understand the breadth and diversity of the Maritime Sector on Merseyside, hear the aspirations and concerns faced by the industry and use this as a basis for targeted, more effective local government support.

Three key themes emerged during discussions; the profile of the Maritime Sector and the need to better promote it, the low carbon agenda and how it relates to the Maritime Sector and issues surrounding better surface access to and from the Mersey Ports.

Cllr Anderson admitted that despite being an ex-merchant seaman who had grown up within sight of the Liverpool docks, he had only recently become aware of the sheer breadth and diversity of maritime related business activity on Merseyside. More needed be done, he said, to promote the sector and its contribution to the region’s economy, adding: “I am more than happy to champion the Maritime Sector and to support Mersey Maritime in the fantastic job that it does.”

Raising the issue of the low carbon economy agenda, John Syvret, Chief Executive of Cammell Laird, outlined the huge potential that exists for Merseyside companies to benefit from the emerging offshore renewables market in the Irish Sea, but that Government support was essential in order for this to happen.

Other areas of activity happening in Liverpool to support the green agenda included the growth in the export of recyclable waste and the success of the Liverpool Fresh Produce Terminal which Cllr Anderson described as “a great story to tell.”

Discussing infrastructure, Warren Marshall, Head of Planning for Peel Ports, stressed the need for investment in improving surface access to and from the Port and beyond, to the markets it serves, in order to improve competitiveness. “Liverpool is not only competing against the southern UK ports,” said Mr Marshall, “but in an increasingly global market, against other European “hub” ports such as Rotterdam and Hamburg.”.

Cllr Anderson also pledged council support for small to medium sized enterprises, saying that under his leadership processes would be streamlined to reduce bureaucracy and provide support quicker and more easily.

Closing the session, Cllr Anderson said: “I was delighted to meet with Mersey Maritime, especially when I found out what a huge sector it is – 26,000 people are employed in around 1000 maritime companies across the region. It is vital that we continue to do what we can to support this industry and to secure its future, and I am keen to press for Liverpool City Region to do what it can to offer this support.”

On behalf of the companies that attended the session, Ian Higby concluded: “It’s been a very interesting and useful session. We are grateful to Cllr Anderson for taking the time to visit Mersey Maritime and hear for himself the issues that our sector is facing and the many exciting prospects that exist for growth.

“The maritime industry on Merseyside is standing on the cusp of some really exciting growth opportunities and for us to be able take full advantage of that, it’s essential that we harness government and wider public sector support. Mersey Maritime’s role is to act as the interface between the private and public sectors. As the voice for the industry here on Merseyside, we look forward to developing an ongoing positive relationship with Cllr Anderson and the City Region Cabinet. so that, together, we can realise some of the opportunities coming our way.”

Mersey Maritime is currently supported by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) with a £450,000 grant, matched-funded by the Northwest Regional Development Agency (NWDA). The funding supports delivery of a project to create and deliver a sector development programme for the Maritime industry on Merseyside that will support productivity, business growth and job creation for SMEs. This will help enhance the competitiveness of the sub-region both nationally and internationally.

End. Issued on: 16 September 2010
Issued by: Mersey Maritime Limited
Contact: Annette Parker, Communications Manager, 0151 647 4747