BusinessLive has been granted exclusive access to the Peel Ports Liverpool site after the maritime giant began its latest Brexit preparations.
Days after accepting government funding to improve resilience ahead of Brexit on October 31, the firm has begun clearing a huge site ready to help smooth over any potential disruption.
Liverpool was one of 16 UK ports to share a £10m Brexit preparation fund from the government, which was announced last week .
And for Liverpool, the funds will go towards creating more space for HGV parking and container storage to support smooth trade operations by roll-on, roll-off ferries - especially across the Irish Sea.
Peel Ports has said it is "as ready as can be" for whatever happens on October 31 - be it a deal with the EU, no deal, or a further delay.
Mark Whitworth, CEO of Peel Ports, told BusinessLive : “We are doing everything we can to help our customers continue delivering import and export trade throughout our port network.
"This government funding helps us to put in place additional measures to achieve that. Whatever happens after October 31 we are as ready as we can be to facilitate global commerce that will benefit the UK economy.”
Transport Secretary Grant Shapps said: “Our world-leading maritime ports are fundamental not only to our success as a global trading nation but also to people’s everyday lives, bringing vital goods into the country.
"This timely investment will support ports across the country in their work to boost capacity and efficiency, ensuring they’re ready for Brexit and a successful future.”
On Monday, the ECHO was driven around the site - one of the largest, busiest and most diverse ports in the UK that is also home to Liverpool2, a new £400m deep-water container terminal, which opened in 2016.
The ports area is one of the country’s "best-equipped and connected terminals", with the capacity to handle the world's largest container ships.
And last month, Peel Ports announced it had struck an investment deal to expand the Liverpool2 container terminal - the location of the giant red cranes that can be seen from miles around.
That will mean a "significant increase" in size - specifically, 10 more cantilever rail-mounted gantry cranes (CRMGs) and three ship-to-shore cranes (STS).
Speaking after that investment, a statement to BusinessLive said: "The proposed joint venture is an incredibly positive development for Peel Ports’ Containers business and the Port of Liverpool . "
