P&O Ferries owner DP World has unveiled its £1bn investment into London Gateway port at the government’s investment summit.
The Dubai-based firm had threatened to cancel the announcement after Transport Secretary Louise Haigh described its subsidiary as a “cowboy operator,” in reference to the controversial sacking of 800 P&O workers in 2022.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer subsequently distanced himself from Haigh’s remarks in order to prevent DP World pulling the expansion plans.
It was confirmed over the weekend the logistics firm, which claims to handle around 10 per cent of world trade, would still attend the summit.
The expansion aims to make London Gateway the UK’s largest container port within the next half-decade, surpassing rival Felixstowe.
It will create 400 new jobs, in addition to the 1,200 currently employed at the site, DP World said on Monday.
The £1bn plans involve increasing capacity by building two new shipping berths, taking the total number to six. It will also see a second rail terminal added to handle the expected increase in trade from container ships.
Monday’s announcement takes the total investment by DP World at the London port to over £3bn, with the site recently seeing the addition of its fourth berth for around £350m.
The expansion will take the total invested by DP World at London Gateway to more than £3bn, converting the site of a former oil refinery into one of the UK’s largest and most important logistics hubs.
The site most recently saw the addition of a £350m fourth berth, the first to be powered entirely by electricity, and which will soon accept its first ship.
“DP World London Gateway will help make Britain’s trade flow in the future by connecting domestic exporters with global markets and delivering vital supply chain resilience for the whole economy,” Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem, Group Chairman and Chief Executive Officer at DP World said.
Ernst Schulze, Chief Executive Officer for Ports and Terminals at DP World UK, said: “As this commitment demonstrates, London Gateway’s location and transport infrastructure are ideally placed for expansion. With extra capacity comes the reliability and supply chain resilience so important to our customers and consumers, especially in uncertain times such as the pandemic and disruption due to geopolitical events.”