A video published by the UK Department of Transport via YouTube shows the unique position of the UK ports sector, while also looking at up-and-coming projects which are anticipated to strengthen UK port growth.
Geoff Lippitt of PD Ports said: “One of the key differentiators for UK ports is the fact that we’re a privatised business predominantly, in the large UK ports. That makes us very different from our European competitors, who are predominantly state-owned.
“We are therefore a lot more agile and we do a lot more of our own investment and that makes us attractive for international customers and how this has given the UK an advantage over European ports, which are state-owned.”
In a recent PTI Poll, 47% of PTI readers stated they believed a mixed business model is best for ports, with 35% stating they thought a privatised port sector was optimal, and 18% arguing the case for nationalisation.
In EU terms, the UK is the largest port sector and moves around 500 million tonnes of freight every year and is currently worth in excess of US$10 billion, which is 1.3 times more than the national average.
(Source: Department of Transport / YouTube)
