Commenting on today’s announcement by the Government of winning bids for the Port Infrastructure Resilience and Connectivity (PIRC) Fund, Tim Morris, CEO of the UK Major Ports Group, said “Today’s announcement demonstrates how ports all around the coast are stepping up to prepare for Brexit and providing UK businesses with a range of choices for trading with the EU. The projects that the grants announced today will fund are not a silver bullet for potential Brexit disruption but are the latest stage of preparations that have been underway for some time. The key message to British business must be ‘get ready for Brexit’ regardless of the political debate – understand your supply chains, think about your alternatives and register for the formalities to trade internationally.”
Tim added “The announcement of funding to accelerate a number of road and rail connectivity schemes is welcome. Making sure that the UK is giving itself the best chance in global trade starts with how well our ports – which handle 95% of the UK’s international trade – are connected to the rest of the economy. Today’s announcement is a step forward, but this needs to be part of an ongoing programme of port connectivity improvement.”
Notes to editors:
The UK Major Ports Group (“UKMPG”) is the collective body for the UK’s largest port operators. Ports are essential for the economic life of the UK, acting as the gateways for 95% of the nation’s trade in goods with the world. Three quarters of this trade is handled by the UKMPG’s nine members who collectively operate 40 ports all around the UK. This includes 13 of the largest 15 ports in the UK and the largest ports in England, Scotland and Northern Ireland.
Ports owned by UKMPG members who feature in today’s announcement are:
- Felixstowe
- Harwich
- Southampton
- Plymouth
- Immingham
- Hull
- Teesport
- Heysham
- Liverpool
- Bristol
- Sheerness
- London Gateway
