Scottish Parliament politicians have today (05 October) given their backing to the Forth Green Freeport bid which has the potential to generate up to 50,000 new green jobs and act as a catalyst for new clean technologies and renewable energy manufacturing in Scotland. The ambitious bid proposal which was submitted in June 2022 to the Scottish and UK Governments, will make a significant contribution to the re-industrialisation of Scotland, unlocking £6bn of private and public investment.

Regional list and constituency MSPs who cover the bid’s geography area signed their support at the event in Holyrood [NB: see images attached with this release]. A Forth green corridor will be created as part of the bid submitted by a consortium comprising both private and public organisations – Forth Ports; Babcock; Edinburgh Airport; INEOS; Scarborough Muir Group; and Falkirk, Edinburgh and Fife Councils, have committed to delivering the bid’s vision.

Stuart Wallace, Chief Operating Officer of Forth Ports Group who met the group of MSPs today in Edinburgh, said: “A Forth Green Freeport will accelerate large-scale investment in new infrastructure, technology and skills training to catapult Scotland’s just transition to a cleaner and greener future.

 “After receiving strong backing from our local authority partners, private businesses and education providers, it’s great to see so much support for our bid across all five political parties.

 “This is an unmissable opportunity to support the delivery of the country’s net zero ambitions. Our politicians are giving their backing to a bid that will enable Scotland to reduce emissions while creating technologies and jobs for the future.

 “Along the Forth corridor, there will be billions of investment for renewable offshore wind, alternative fuel manufacturing and our ship building industry, which will reindustrialise Scotland and spread the benefits of trade widely into the communities that need it the most. Our committed consortium is confident that a Forth Green Freeport will deliver a radical transformation for the Firth of Forth and Scotland.”

 Northern Edinburgh and Leith MSP, Ben Macpherson said: “As the constituency MSP for the Port of Leith, I support the Forth Green Freeport bid, together with other local parliamentary colleagues. This ambitious proposal has the potential to deliver even more local opportunities, as the port develops into a renewables hub, and to help accelerate a just transition to a greener future. It would also create more job opportunities in Scotland’s growth industries like offshore wind manufacturing, with a commitment to pay at least the Real Living Wage, and indirectly support other sectors of the local economy.”

Falkirk East MSP, Michelle Thomson said: “Scotland cannot decarbonise without a strong development pathway for the industrial cluster at Grangemouth and along the Forth Estuary. Whether it’s a switch to more sustainable fuels or the development of a hydrogen economy, the plans put forward by INEOS, Forth Ports and others will accelerate Scotland’s just transition to a greener future, while protecting jobs, developing skills and offering new opportunities for future generations. That’s why I back the bid.”

 Miles Briggs MSP for the Lothian Region said: “Scotland needs the private sector to invest at scale to decarbonise our economy and that’s why I back the bid for a Forth Green Freeport. If selected, Scotland will have a huge green development platform at Leith to drive up UK manufactured content from the ongoing offshore wind revolution, while creating a legacy that leaves Scotland with a more secure energy supply with genuine export potential. This, coupled with the exciting development plans at the airport, will leave us better connected as we forge new partnerships around the globe.”

 The bid proposal for a Forth Green Freeport was submitted to the Scottish and UK Government in June 2022 and a decision is expected in the coming weeks on the winning locations of two Green Freeports for Scotland.

 The bid encompasses three key ports on the Forth (Grangemouth, Leith and Rosyth); industrial facilities and logistics centres along the north and south shores of the Firth of Forth; and Edinburgh Airport. Together they create an ambitious and attractive green investment zone which is focused on the Forth but will have a much broader impact across Scotland. The bid is supported by Falkirk Council, Fife Council and the City of Edinburgh Council who will all continue to play an integral part in the preparation of the Forth Green Freeport and, if successful, its eventual delivery.

Photo caption: MSPs and Forth Green Freeport bid partners come together today outside the Scottish Parliament to back the bid.

Highlights of the FGF bid:

• Forth Green Freeport will act as a catalyst for the re-industrialisation of Scotland, creating economic development for the whole of the country
• Delivering a just transition to Scotland’s net zero targets
• Potential to create 50,000 new green jobs
• 550 hectares of development land
• Local jobs in communities of high deprivation will support levelling up
• A Skills Accelerator Fund focused on skills development for young people and harder to reach communities
• Unlocking £6 billion of private and public investment into productive and resilient industries
• Generating a £4 billion boost in GVA (Gross Value Add)
• Built on a collaboration by committed partners who share the vision for a green growth corridor in the Forth Estuary. All partners are committed to the Fair Work principles and pay Real Living Wage.

05 October 2022                              – ends –

The Port of Tilbury, London’s fastest growing port, announces 40 new career positions which have been created as a result of new business growth working with a global brand in fast moving consumer goods.

The new roles include warehouse supervisors and operatives. All roles offer career and skills development opportunities for adults of all ages.

Commenting on the recruitment Paul Dale, Asset & Site Director said: “The Port of Tilbury is continuing to grow and diversify. We have secured new customers for our business which has opened up 40 new career opportunities.

 We are building a strong team to ensure we can deliver a great service for our customers and to ensure that the port continues to thrive.

The port has been in operation for over 135 years and many of our people have enjoyed long careers with us. I encourage anyone who is interested, to get in touch and find out about the opportunities at The Port of Tilbury.”

For more information about the positions available and careers at Forth Ports, click here: https://forthports.co.uk/careers/

The port is holding a recruitment day at Tilbury Cruise Terminal on Friday 14^th October for anyone to attend. It is a drop-in session between 9-12 and 2-6pm. For more information, please email careers@potll.com

29 September 2022             – ends-

The majestic Emerald Princess sailed up the River Forth into South Queensferry this week marking the 100^th cruise call for Capital Cruising which welcomes cruise liners into its ports in Leith, Rosyth, Dundee and deep-water anchorages at Newhaven and South Queensferry.

Rob Mason, Head of Cruise for Capital Cruising in Scotland said: “Cruise is back in full swing and today’s Emerald Princess’ visit into South Queensferry marks our 100^th cruise call which is an important milestone for our 2022 cruise season.

The cruise business is a major economic boost for Scotland and the local areas where the liners call, with many local businesses and attractions benefiting from the tourism spend.

We have welcomed 25 inaugural visits from cruise liners this year across our ports and anchorages in Scotland and across our Group we are expecting to welcome nearly 200 cruise vessels which is encouraging news as people return to cruise.”

Earlier this year Capital Cruising hosted the prestigious Cruise Europe Conference with around 200 influential cruise executives from around the world attending the largest cruise event ever to be held in Edinburgh. Scotland is a major draw for the cruise market, Edinburgh in particular is a ‘must-see’.

The Port of Tilbury’s Grain Terminal has completed major construction works with the commissioning of ten, 30 metre tall, steel silos and a flat store with a combined storage capacity of 36,000 tonnes.

The metal silos will be filled and emptied using a new 650 tonne per hour transfer conveyor system. The conveyor also serves as an automated filling system for the 16,000 tonne flat store which has a direct delivery system to two customer flour mill sites. Once fully operational next month (September), the combined silo and flat store facility returns the terminal’s total on site storage to 100,000 tonnes.

Works are also under way to replace the concrete silo and this is due for completion in December 2023. The new concrete silo will add a further 34,000 tonnes of automated storage, underpinning the grain terminal as the UKs largest import/export grain handling facility.

Peter Ward, Commercial Director at The Port of Tilbury said: “We are extremely pleased to start the commissioning of our new metal silos and high-speed conveyor system. Coupled with the construction of the concrete silo, the Grain Terminal will be back to full capacity on one site this year.

“Our terminal is a key facility in the South-East of England and an essential part of the UK agricultural supply chain for imports and exports and benefits from the full multimodal services at the Port of Tilbury including river barge transportation into central London.”

The Tilbury Grain terminal has been in operation for over 50 years and is a key strategic facility in the South-East of the UK for the grain import and export markets handling over 2million tonnes of product from around the world. Grain is a key commodity in the UK food supply chain for a number of uses, most notably within the flour milling and bakery industries. The terminal also operates a monthly coastal shipping service from Tilbury to its sister port in Kirkcaldy, Scotland for Carr’s Milling.

*The fire at the grain terminal was in July 2020 and damaged the silo tower and some other equipment. No one was injured.

31 August 2022                              -ends-

The Port of Tilbury’s well known Chief Police Officer, James Poulain is retiring in September following a 38-year career with the police service.

After seven years of dedicated service to the Port of Tilbury, James is hanging up his handcuffs for the final time when he retires on 2^nd September 2022.

James spent 31 years in the Metropolitan Police, concluding his time in the force as Inspector working within Taskforce on the Territorial Support Group, before joining the Port of Tilbury Police as its Chief Police officer in 2016.

Tilbury one of the UK’s largest ports which manages a diverse range of activities from container cargo to cruise ships and James quickly forged strong and positive relationships with the port community and its stakeholders. James was instrumental in introducing the community policing model to the Port of Tilbury which enabled the force to share best practice in areas such as intelligence gathering, crime prevention and incident response creating a hostile environment for those who seek to be involved in criminality.

Paul Dale, Asset & Site Director at the Port of Tilbury said: “We have also enjoyed working with James over the past 7 years and I personally want to thank him for his solid support and dedication to the port. James’ role across the port was wide and diverse but he always found time to be part of community engagement activities and was always keen to be involved at our open days and other community events.

James is a very popular colleague with his police team and our wider port community and he leaves behind a positive lasting legacy as he enjoys his well-earned retirement.”

Commenting on his career, James Poulain, said: “It has been an absolute privilege to finish my policing career at the Port of Tilbury. With the support of the Tilbury Senior Management Team and the professionalism of my staff together we have had a major impact on reducing crime and making the Port a hostile environment for criminals. I would thank all the partner agencies who have assisted in this goal. Finally, I would like to pay tribute to all those officers who tirelessly commit themselves to front line policing.”

The Port of Tilbury welcomes a new Chief of Police Matt Bass who joined the team in August from the British Transport Police where he served for 19 years finishing as head of recruit training for the force. Matt brings a wealth of experience from his previous Police service including, response policing, counter terrorism firearms policing, crime scene examination, civil protection, recruit training, and disaster victim identification.

Paul Dale said: “We warmly welcome our new Chief of Police, Matt Bass who has joined us and is settling into his new role. It is an exciting time for the Port of Tilbury as we continue to invest and grow to support customer demand. Our police team provide a vital service for us both within the port and in the wider community.”

Inch Cape Offshore Limited has selected the Port of Dundee as the pre-assembly and marshalling site for the construction of the 1.1GW Inch Cape Offshore Wind Farm, which will be Scotland’s largest offshore wind project when commissioned later this decade.  The agreement will see turbine blades, towers and nacelles, which house the turbine generators, being delivered to and pre-assembled at the port’s Renewables Hub before being shipped out for installation 12km off the Angus coast.

Dundee has been chosen after a competitive selection process due to its proximity to the project site, coupled with its unrivalled storage and assembly capacity and purpose-built quayside facilities.

The offshore wind project will be Scotland’s largest single source of renewable power when built and will feature the tallest turbines ever deployed in Scottish waters, with consent for tip heights of up to 291 metres.

Inch Cape Offshore Limited has reserved the entire Renewables Hub at the port, equivalent to 28 football pitches, from March 2025 to March 2026, with around 50 staff expected to be on site over that time.

Adam Ezzamel, Project Director, said, “Inch Cape will be the largest single offshore wind project built in Scotland, and we are delighted to be working with the Port of Dundee on the construction phase of this exciting development.

“The port is ideally-sited for our construction operation and offers us the area we require for the number – and sheer scale – of the turbines we will be deploying.

“Offshore construction is a specialist area and the Port of Dundee offers us a management team with the experience and capability to deal with the logistical challenges that have to be managed during our construction phase.

“After successfully securing a Contract for Difference earlier this summer, this latest contract award is another important step towards us delivering the project – and generating low cost, renewable power for consumers across Great Britain.”

David Webster, Director of Energy at Forth Ports (owner of the Port of Dundee), said, “This is a very significant project for The Port of Dundee as we establish Forth Ports as the partner of choice for the renewable energy sector in Scotland.

“We have built Scotland’s only custom-built renewables hub at the port which, when coupled with Dundee’s proximity to the project site in the North Sea and the natural deep waters of the Tay, makes the port ideally suited to the requirements of this major contract for Inch Cape Offshore Wind Farm.”

Councillor John Alexander, Leader of Dundee City Council said, “The Port of Dundee is an incredibly important asset, not only for the city but for the renewables sector more generally. It’s strategically very well placed to support and deliver key pieces of the infrastructure that the UK will require in the future.

“Today’s announcement is a clear vote of confidence in the quality of the infrastructure here and I’m delighted that Inch Cape has selected Dundee as a critical part of the delivery of the largest offshore windfarm in Scotland.

“The scale of this project is unrivalled, with a level of ambition which is set to redefine offshore wind. Inch Cape’s success is our success, and everyone benefits from the delivery of this 72-turbine project so I’m very much looking forward to seeing the Port continuing to be a hub for this type of activity.”

29 August 2022                                                 ENDS

INEOS at Grangemouth endorses the bid to establish the Forth Green Freeport

• The Forth Green Freeport will sustain a prosperous industrial and manufacturing sector,
  provide high quality employment and deliver economic benefit to the country
• Andrew Gardner, CEO and Chairman at INEOS Grangemouth: “We are proud to be part
  of the bid consortium that brings together key public and private sector organisations
  with a shared goal, to deliver a just and fair transition to net zero in the region, along
  with the vision to reindustrialise and create economic development for the whole
  country.”

In backing the bid for the Forth Green Freeport, INEOS recognises the important and significant
role this region has to play in achieving the Scottish and UK Governments’ net zero targets. The
bid will bring together key partners who are ideally placed to facilitate and accelerate investment
into the region together with addressing and tackling the challenges that lie ahead to achieve a
just and fair transition to net zero.

INEOS is already playing its part, delivering on the fundamental elements that underpin and
complement the Forth Green Freeport bid and in providing good quality jobs at its Grangemouth
site. Forward planning and investments are already in place via our established ‘Road Map to net
zero’. This includes the construction of a new energy plant, an investment in hydrogen production
that will see a new hydrogen hub in the region along with a focus on improved manufacturing
operations and research and development that is delivering new ranges of polymers with
increasing amounts of recycled content.

We have created investment-ready space within our industrial estate that will be attractive to third
party businesses with the Forth Green Freeport providing a fiscal and favourable investment
environment to encourage third parties to invest, bringing with it renewed prosperity to the region.

In welcoming the Forth Green Freeport bid, Andrew Gardner, CEO and Chairman at INEOS
Grangemouth said, “We are proud to be part of the bid consortium led by Forth Ports Limited. The
bid brings together key public and private sector organisations with a shared goal, to deliver a just
and fair transition to net zero in the region, along with the vision to reindustrialise and create
economic development for the whole country. The bid has the potential to create an ambitious and
attractive green investment zone, which is focused on the Forth but will have a much broader
impact across Scotland, including creating 50,000 new green jobs, providing skills development for
young people and creating local jobs in local communities for local people.”

Rail Minister, Wendy Morton MP and Thurrock MP Jackie Doyle-Price visited Tesco’s UK-Europe rail hub at the Port of Tilbury following the retailer’s £5million investment in new rail freight services.

Tesco’s new investment, building on £2.5m of investment in recent years, includes the introduction of a new temperature-controlled rail freight service. This will support Tesco in delivering fresh produce from suppliers in Europe, through the Port of Tilbury, and on across the UK to our distribution centres, like Thurrock DC, and on to stores.

The refrigerated rail service complements Tesco’s recent investments in rail equipment, including 890 new rail boxes and two new stacking machines. These combined investments are worth circa £7.5m and will significantly increase the company’s rail freight across the UK and the company plans to double the number of journeys in the coming years.

The increased rail service will not only boost resilience in the supply chain, but also be considerably greener, with each train removing around 40 trucks from the road saving approximately 9,000 tonnes of CO2 each year.

As part of the visit, the Minister and the MP were given a tour of the site, watched one of the trains being loaded and heard about Tesco’s commitment of net zero emissions across its value chain by 2050, including those generated by the products it sells and across its supply chains. Tesco was also the first major retailer to set science-based targets to meet the Paris Climate Commitments.

Rail Minister, Wendy Morton MP said: “Rail freight plays a vital role in safeguarding the resilience of our supply chains whilst taking traffic off our roads, offering a cleaner, greener alternative for businesses nationwide. It’s fantastic to see a major company wholeheartedly backing our railways by investing in new equipment.

“This Government has committed to net zero by 2050, and so, I welcome Tesco’s £5million investment as they work towards becoming a zero-carbon business.”

Tesco’s rail operation in Tilbury is part of a wider economic contribution to the Thurrock constituency of £135million per year and the company supports over 3,000 jobs. In the East of England more broadly Tesco contributes £7,000million to the economy per annum in the East of England and support over 125,000 people across all of its operations.

Jackie Doyle-Price, MP for Thurrock, said: “Thurrock is the logistics capital of the UK.  There is a higher concentration of logistics jobs than in any other area of the UK.  We have most to gain from moving freight from road to rail.  I am very pleased to see this investment by Tesco.”

Nick Allen, Tesco Distribution Director, said: “We were delighted to welcome the Transport Minister to Tilbury to tell her about the far-reaching plans we have to increase our rail distribution and reduce our carbon emissions significantly.

“Tesco is the biggest retail user of rail in the UK and it’s the most efficient way of moving our goods quickly, so the benefits are practical for our business and for the environment.

“Because of this, we are also planning to increase our efficiency of goods transportation by rail between the North and South of England, eventually replacing the transportation of 40 truckloads by road per day.”

Tesco’s new rail service will save circa 9000 tonnes of CO2 each year and remove over 7.5 million truck miles from the road. This is in addition to the 20 million miles already removed by existing services.

The service will also increase speed and efficiency, as well as raise the amount of cases delivered each week via rail to more than 5.5 million.

Ross McKissock, Unitised Director at the Port of Tilbury, said: “Forth Ports’ rail freight strategy is focused on streamlining the path of fast-moving goods to the heart of the country’s key markets.

“Tesco’s new refrigerated trains are a perfect fit for the UK’s newest port, Tilbury2, which is a growing hub for European trade and intermodal connections. With daily rail services running to the UK’s largest retailer hubs and capacity to take the longest 775-meter trains on the network, we offer market-leading low carbon distribution solutions, enabling clean, green and sustainable supply chains.”

The arrival of the Skylight container vessel into Scotland’s key strategic freight hub at The Port of Grangemouth marks the maiden call of a new Scottish Express (SCX) service secured with the CMA CGM Group, a global player in sea, land, air and logistics solutions, and its subsidiary, Containerships, the leader in intra-European multimodal transport.

The new service, which calls into Grangemouth each Thursday, has been launched to principally support growing exports from Scotland’s largest exporters who transport produce from Leven and Shieldhall through Grangemouth and into Europe to service worldwide destinations. The SCX service rotation is a weekly route to mainland Europe, from Grangemouth via Teesport to Rotterdam, and will be capable of handling around 20,000 containers per annum through the Port.

The SCX service provides export and import customers with a regular additional call into mainland Europe each week through Scotland’s largest container port, increasing shipping capacity to meet the demands of the Scottish market. The Port of Grangemouth, which handles 30% of Scottish GDP, will be a strategic site for a new Forth Green Freeport which will help to transform the port into a major logistics, manufacturing, renewable energy hub and R&D centre for the Scottish and UK economies.

James Leeson, General Manager at CMA CGM UK, said: “We are delighted to announce the launch of our new SCX service at the Port of Grangemouth. This is an important addition to the Scottish market with a fixed day weekly service and increases Scotland’s connectivity to mainland Europe and beyond.

“We are committed to supporting economic growth within the areas we operate, and I am looking forward to continuing to work alongside Forth Ports as we expand our service offering in Scotland.”

Commenting on the new service, Derek Knox, Head of Operations Scottish Ports, said: “The new Scottish Express service is great news for Grangemouth and for Scotland. The Port of Grangemouth plays a key role in Scotland’s logistics and freight sector and this new weekly call will increase the frequency of vessels connecting to mainland Europe and we welcome the team from CMA CGM and Containerships to our container terminal.

“The additional shipping capacity created from this new direct freight service to Europe will play a key role in fulfilling the demands of the Scottish market trading with European and International destinations. This further supports our ambitions to deliver a Forth Green Freeport where one of the key objectives of the policy is to develop trade. We are continuing to deliver our investment programme in Grangemouth with new equipment, an expanded container terminal and warehousing complex, linked freight rail terminal and over 400 reefer connections securing the Port of Grangemouth as Scotland’s freight hub of choice.”

Forth Green Freeport renewables development platform takes shape with £50m port infrastructure investment

Scotland’s largest offshore wind renewables hub, at the Port of Leith, has signed a reservation and collaboration agreement with bp and EnBW, as the marshalling port for the 2.9GW Morven offshore wind project.

Forth Ports’ £50 million investment will see the facility in operation by the end of 2023, providing a bespoke offshore wind berth and a significant land bank for laydown and marshalling of offshore wind farm components. With the capacity for local content manufacturing, as well as a base for SMEs in the offshore wind supply chain, the nation’s largest renewables hub will create employment of up to 1,000 high quality, long term direct jobs and around 2,000 indirect jobs.

Morven is a major offshore wind project located 60km off the east coast of Scotland, awarded to bp and EnBW during the ScotWind leasing round with results announced earlier this year. Once completed, the project is expected to have a generating capacity of 2.9 gigawatts (GW), sufficient to power more than 3 million homes.

The Port of Leith is a key part of the Forth Green Freeport bid, submitted to the UK and Scottish governments for assessment on 20th June 2022, which seeks to re-industrialise Scotland, create large scale economic development, boost local supply chain growth, skills development and create a world-class manufacturing cluster. The bid has the potential to generate 50,000 new green jobs and act as a catalyst for new green technologies and renewable energy manufacturing, unlocking £6 billion of private and public investment for Scotland.

Commenting on today’s announcement, Carole Cran, Chief Financial Officer at Forth Ports, said: “This is significant news for our business and for Scotland, as we welcome bp and EnBW’s Morven project to Leith, the first of many for our new facility. We will be the largest offshore renewables hub in Scotland, bringing manufacturing opportunities and highly skilled, local, green jobs. This facility, and the Port of Dundee, will provide an integrated service offering to the offshore wind market, which will be instrumental in achieving the nation’s net zero targets over the next two decades.

“Our vision is to create a renewables centre of excellence for R&D, manufacturing and assembly that matches anything in northern Europe, with genuine export potential.”

Richard Haydock, Project Director, Offshore Wind, bp, said: “bp and EnBW are delighted to have secured Port of Leith for our Morven project. This is the next step for us to be able to deliver 2.9GW of clean energy. The project’s investment will support the Port of Leith with its transformation into a renewables hub and help position Forth Ports for future Scottish offshore wind projects.”

Céline Combé, EnBW Project Director, said: “Our journey with the Port of Leith started at a very early stage of our Morven project back in 2021. EnBW and bp are excited about taking the collaboration with Forth Ports to the next level with this agreement. It marks another important milestone in the development of our Morven project. We are looking forward to continuing working with the team at Forth Ports, and we are proud to keep contributing to the build out of renewable infrastructure in and for Scotland.”