Forth Ports scooped a trio of awards at the prestigious Edinburgh Chamber of Commerce Business Awards 2020 last night (27 February).

The port group won in the High Growth Business of the Year for Capital Cruising and Large Business of the Year. The business also celebrated the individual award win to Harbour Master Ryan Porteous who was named Young Leader of the Year.

High Growth Business of the Year for Capital Cruising – the judges were impressed with the strong growth performance of Capital Cruising which is Forth Port’s cruise business brand. The business has experience strong growth to become the second largest UK cruise operator enjoying a 50% increase in customer base and an impressive 75% increase in cruise calls. The success is based on a strong commercial and brand strategy coupled with a collaborative approach to customer service and passenger experience.

Large Business of the Year – Forth Ports – the judges were impressed with the strong managerial and financial performance of Forth Ports. Forth Ports is one of the UK’s largest port groups with over 1,100 employees, handling over 41million tonnes of cargo at their ports and contributing £950million of economic value to the UK. The company has an ambitious investment strategy across it ports with the development of a new multimillion pound port in Tilbury on the Thames to increase the import and export capacity; a renewables and decommissioning hub and new £10million heavy-lift quayside in Dundee; and in Grangemouth a £15million investment in infrastructure, crane capability and a Skills & Business Centre. The business also invests in its people to create a strong service delivery and ensure a skilled workforce for the future.

Young Leader of the Year Award to Ryan Porteous – Ryan has impressed with his level of vision and leadership deploying his skills to positively impact both the teams he works with and the wider business. His role as Harbour Master for Dundee and Leith is to assume overall responsibility for the safe and efficient running of all marine aspects of the Port. Ryan provides leaderships to a marine team and is key in liaising with the customer, managing commercial pressure whilst maintaining the safety of navigation. In addition to the Port based part of his role, Ryan has been proactively involved in engaging local organisation with the safe usage of the River.  Inspiring a joint safety campaign with the local leisure fraternities such as fishing, sailing and water sport clubs along with the Police to promote safe and responsible river use.

Celebrating the awards success, Stuart Wallace, Chief Operating Officer, Forth Ports said: “We are thrilled to win these two awards for the business and we are extremely proud of Ryan’s win as Young Leader of the Year. Ryan is an impressive individual and this award is testament to his professional achievements and personal drive. All three awards are a result of the hard work of many people across the business and my thanks and congratulations go to the teams who have contributed to this success.

This is an exciting year ahead for Forth Ports are we open a new port in Spring in Tilbury; host a prestigious global Cruise conference in Edinburgh in March and continue our multimillion-pound investment programme across our Scottish operations.”

28 February 2019                              -ends-