Analysis: Felixstowe, London Gateway, MSC & Gemini – musical chairs in UK ports
MSC’s beady eye on Felixstowe?
UK port owners and operators have welcomed the government’s decision to open the competitive bidding process for the development of up to 10 freeports.
However, with the deadline for submission of bids just 12 weeks away, there was also criticism that the government is trying to rush through the process – particularly given that it will coincide with the UK’s formal departure from the EU and the possible supply chain disruption associated with Brexit,
“Potential bidders face a real challenge in submitting ...
Comment on this article
Neil Davidson
November 17, 2020 at 4:48 pmIt’s understandable that UK port operators are enthusiastic about the current government plans. If you have the opportunity for your port area to become a preferred enterprise zone with favourable planning rules and tax benefits, why wouldn’t you?
But how much of the “new” business will simply be existing jobs and economic activity relocating from now disadvantaged locations in the rest of the UK? The government has said that when assessing bids from UK ports, it will consider any potential displacement impacts and that “bidders will be invited to provide evidence and potential displacement mitigations as part of their bids”.