How Integral Is Southampton Port To The Local Economy & Infrastructure?

In episode five of our second series of Let’s Talk South Coast, our host Nella Pang is joined by Ben Ross, Senior Surveyor at ABP to talk about the role that Southampton port plays in bringing investment and economic development to the area and their plans to continue and grow this in the future.

What you’ll hear about in this episode:

• The position Southampton Port is currently in and how they are trying to position themselves for the future
• The 3 core sectors that underpin ABP’s business
• How important the cruise ship business is to Southampton’s economy
• The benefits for businesses exporting goods to be based in Southampton
• The new opportunities for the area with Solent Freeport
• ABP’s commitment to sustainability 
• Their current port centric manufacturing developments
• The impact that Brexit and the pandemic had on ABP
• Where Ben sees future investment going

Companies Mentioned:

• ABP
• Marchwood Industrial Estate
• Eling Wharf
• Horizon Cruise Terminal
• Solent Freeport
• Marine and Maritime Institute
• Fawley Power Station

Shout Outs:

• Prof. John Barker

Key Insights From This Episode:

• Southampton is the UK's number one vehicle handling port. So pre-pandemic, and numbers have fallen a little bit since then due to various issues with supply chains, but pre-pandemic, we were handling about 900,000 vehicles per year. - Ben
• There are great opportunities across the port and for the region. In a way, I think Freeport could be seen as the icing on the cake really. - Ben
• ABP is by far the largest landlord within our region, covering over 900 acres of land for commercial and cruise operation with an additional 875 acres for potential port expansion. - Nella
• ABP has cut carbon emissions across the group by over 35% since 2014. - Ben
• We are an export port and primarily we export outside of the EU, so something like 70% of our trade is actually outside the EU.  So, I think we've been quite well sheltered from the impact of Brexit. - Ben

About Our Guest:

Ben Ross is a Senior Surveyor at Associated British Ports, the UK’s leading ports group, where he has worked for just over 5 years. Prior to this he was Estates Manager at Marina Developments Ltd.

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