Freeport frustration runs deep with all quiet on the western front

LOSING a competition that is completely game-changing for the winners is never a pleasant prospect. Glasgow City Region, along with Aberdeen and Orkney, now have to deal with the fact that two major competitors have received a massive advantage by the awarding of Green Freeport status to bids from Forth Ports and Inverness-Cromarty Firth.  

There were always going to be winners and losers, given that five bids were submitted and there could be only two winners. Why just two? That was the agreement between Holyrood and Westminster after much negotiation.

For Peel Ports Clydeport Director Jim McSporran, the fact that the bid from the team of public and private sector organisations, including Peel Ports, Glasgow Airport and Mossend International Railfreight Park in North Lanarkshire, was rejected, is deeply disappointing . 

The bid was the UK’s only multi-modal Green Freeport bid and included a strong partnership of councils in and around Glasgow. The bid also covered some of Scotland’s most deprived and disadvantaged areas, all of whom could have gained massively had the bid been successful. 

“It’s really difficult to understand where geography fits into all this, with both Green Freeports going to the two east coast ports and the west coast with all its challenges losing out completely,” McSporran says.

He points out that the east coast already enjoys significant advantages over the west coast. “They are much better positioned to benefit from three major industries, namely offshore renewables, decommissioning and ongoing North Sea oil and gas industry activities. Our argument is that the benefits of Greenports should be more balanced across the country, especially when the challenges in west coast communities are so plain,” he comments. 

He and his colleagues are particularly concerned with the future that the west coast now faces as a consequence of the Green Freeport awards process. 

“We were already 18 months to two years behind the English Freeports, because it took a long time for Westminster and Holyrood to agree Scotland’s proposed modification of the English Freeports concept,” he notes. 

This has given the English Freeports a notable and potentially significant head start over any Scottish Green Freeport. 

“We all spent a lot of time and money preparing the bid, which had the backing of eight local councils and three major private sector businesses. 

“On top of this, the west of Scotland has the country’s biggest manufacturing sector as well as having really socially-deprived areas such as Inverclyde. All of this, we thought, gave our bid a real strength.” 

McSporran says that apart from being really disappointed, Clydeport and their bid partners are looking to the Scottish Government for help with what comes next for businesses and communities along the Clyde. 

“What is very clear from the way the awards process has worked out, with the east coast coming out such a clear winner, is that we on the west have a mountain to climb, and we’re going to need support from the public sector. 

“To give just one example of the challenges in our area, we have a major distribution centre closing in Inverclyde, which could lead to the loss of hundreds of jobs in the local supply chain. And now we’ve had a further hammer blow with the Greenport situation. 

“How are we supposed to attract manufacturing to the region and build our relationships with local supply chains when the east coast Green Freeports can offer them advantages in terms of tax, planning and other benefits?”

A successful Green Freeport bid would also have resulted in investment into Greenock's Ocean Terminal, expanding capacity and continuing the ongoing regeneration of Inverclyde

McSporran says that it is also not at all clear why the process between the two governments settled on just two Green Freeports. 

“Early on, I had a conversation with one MSP who made the very sensible point that perhaps the panel should have agreed all five bids. They had decided to invest £25 million in each of the two winning bids. The MSP pointed out that it would only have cost £125 million for the governments to invest in all five bids. That is a relatively trivial sum, given the economic boost this would have meant to the country.” he comments.  

It has not been an ideal start to 2023, coming on the back of a successful 2022, in which Clydeport announced a multi-million pound deal for a road salt facility, Greenock played host to the world’s largest private residential ship, and the company welcomed its first ever female apprentice in any port in Scotland.

That all followed news earlier in the year of a huge investment in new cranes, a surge in cruise liners after the pandemic, and the expansion for metal recycling company EMR which is based at King George V docks.

Clydeport was even involved in supporting Ukranian refugees, with temporary floating accommodation moored at one of its facilities, and port workers went out of their way to provide practical help for the displaced families through fund-raising and donations.

However, McSporran knows that in a competitive market, last year’s achievements only go so far, and he is looking to work with partner organisations to overcome the set-back of the Green Freeport result.

“We want a meeting as soon as possible with the Scottish Government and its agencies because we have to work together on the future, for the benefit of current and future generations of workers along the Clyde. This decision has altered the competitive position in the Scottish ports industry, very much to the detriment of the west coast. And if we don’t have jobs, then there’s an impact on local communities and public services, because you’ll see people leaving the area. ” 

McSporran points out that the 45 kilometre zone around the two Green Freeports means that no amount of goodwill on the part of the winners can alter the situation for the losers.

“There are clearly things the Scottish Government could do to help redress the situation. That could be through investment zones or other initiatives. 

“We need to sit down with them to discuss these options and to find a way forward,” he says. 

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New investment makes Inverclyde world-class

Two new cranes may be the biggest investment in Greenock Ocean Terminal's history, but they are far from the only investment ensuring a prosperous future for the site. By Anthony Harrington

WITH an eye to increased freight traffic at its Greenock Ocean Terminal, Peel Ports Clydeport has made a multi-million-pound investment in two new cranes. This is the largest single investment the Group has made at the container terminal since it opened in 1969. 

The world's largest residential ship, MS The World, arrives at Greenock Ocean Terminal last year

The investment comes as the port is in the process of constructing a purpose-built, multi-agency border control post. Jim McSporran, Clydeport Director said that the border control post would facilitate the import and export of commodities in the face of changing legislation following Brexit. 

At present, the port handles around a third of all the container traffic coming into Scotland, amounting to some 60,000 containers a year. 

McSporran noted that the commissioning of two new cranes would enable the port to handle the anticipated growth in container traffic expected to take place through the next few years. 

The port also handles a large number of visits from cruise liners. Some 74 cruise ships have already booked into the new, dedicated pontoon at Inverclyde. 

Greenock Ocean Terminal enjoyed a visit in August last year from the world’s largest residential cruise ship, the 644-foot long liner, The World. 

The ship has sailed the globe continuously since its launch in 2002 and has travelled across every ocean and to every continent on Earth 

McSporran commented: “Welcoming cruise ships to the UK from all over the world is a huge part of our work at Greenock, and it doesn’t get much more impressive than a visit from The World. 

“The Terminal is experiencing its busiest year for cruises since before the pandemic. Some 140,000 passengers and 35,000 crew members passed through the port through 2022, a marked recovery following the major disruption caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. We expect 2023 to be even stronger as far as cruise ship visits are concerned.”

The World’s visit came shortly before the completion of a new £19.2 million cruise ship visitor centre in late 2022 at Greenock Ocean Terminal. 

McSporran says that the development could well increase visitor numbers to 150,000 a year and provide a £26 million boost to the Scottish economy.

Peel Ports Clydeport also recently concluded a deal for the construction of a new, multi-million pound road salt storage facility at the port. This will support the safe maintenance of Scotland’s road network in future winters. 

Construction began in 2022 at the King George V dock in Glasgow. The new facility will be able to hold a minimum of 40,000 tonnes of road salt. 

The venture is a joint operation with a long-standing customer of the Group, namely the Irish Salt Mining Company. 

Also known as Salt Sales Co., the firm is a key supplier of de-icing rock salt to local authorities across West and Central Scotland, as well as highway maintenance contractors.

The facility will be completed this year, and the long-term deal will allow the stockpiling of the product for tough weather ahead.  

McSporran comments: “It’s great to partner with a customer that we already have such a great working relationship with. 

“Our site has the ideal combination of location, space, and facilities to support such an important project.

“This new facility will be supplying council road salt depots across West and Central Scotland and will be key in helping to meet tough demands during harsh winters.

“Given the unpredictability of Scottish weather, this deal will add vital resilience to the road salt market in this country for many years to come.”

Once fully built, the salt will be shipped from Irish Salt Mining’s mine in Carrickfergus, Northern Ireland, directly into the Peel Port Clydeport facility at King George V docks.
Peel Ports Clydeport staff will unload the salt from the ships arriving at the port and either load out lorries for delivery to customers or add the salt to the stockpile shed.

Thanks to the specialist facilities on site, shipments of 7000 tonnes can be discharged in approximately 12 hrs. Irish Salt Mining produces around 500,000 tonnes of de-icing rock salt per annum from its mine in Carrickfergus.