Port operator ABP has announced job losses in the Humber region, as it carries out a “major restructure” of its business.
Associated British Ports, which runs ports in Hull, Goole, Grimsby and Immingham, said it had launched a cost review, and confirmed both compulsory and voluntary redundancies would be made.
The ports complex across the Humber supports almost 35,000 jobs, and contributes £2.5bn to the UK’s economy every year.
A spokesman at ABP Humber said: “ABP has been undertaking a review of costs with a focus on developing a modern and agile organisation structure.
“As a result the company is in the process of a major restructure. Along with voluntary redundancies, ABP is also running a small-scale compulsory redundancy programme across most of the Humber functions which will allow us to provide a more lean and efficient service to our customers in the coming years.
“Those colleagues affected by this are being supported.”
The port giant is responsible for the quaysides and terminals in Grimsby, Immingham, Hull and Goole, and is transforming the way it operates, with more than 1,000 people currently employed around the UK’s busiest trading estuary.
Reasons behind the major restructure and costs review launched by ABP have not yet been revealed.
In September, a major shipping conference held in London heard a lack of investment in rail freight connectivity between Hull and Liverpool had left port operators “on the verge of crisis.”
Gary Hodgson, managing director of port logistics at Liverpool-based Peel Ports Group, spoke at International Shipping Week and said with increasing numbers of containers coming through the ports, improvements were needed on the rails to support the demand.
ABP Humber’s communications boss Dafydd Williams also spoke at the summit.
He said: “Policy makers will lean towards infrastructure for passenger rail as this makes peoples’ commutes quicker and will win votes.
“If you want to support jobs and the economy, equal investment is required in rail freight to passenger rail. This is the key to unlocking potential across the north, which is why the Humber and the Mersey are working together to get this on the agenda at the Marine UK London based council.
“The more traffic we can take off the roads by investing in rail freight the better their lives will be, and the campaign will gain public support.”
Every year, there are 40,000 vessel movements across the estuary’s ports, with 55 million tonnes of cargo handled.
At Immingham, major investments have been made in bulks and containers, but the port has been impacted with the loss of huge coal volumes, despite the arrival of biomass.
