BREXIT has brought hope to the windswept docks of the Humber River, a key goods gateway in northeast England where tens of millions of pounds are being invested to prepare for a potential increase in shipping.
In Immingham, a gritty town of around 11,000 inhabitants in the shadow of the sprawling port and oil refineries, former dock worker Willie Weir said business was already “picking up”.
“I think we’ll end up a very rich country,” said the 54-year-old, who now owns a hotel and lorry park. “Within a couple of years I think we’ll be trading with a lot of other countries.”
Associated British Ports (ABP) – which owns four Humberside facilities – is spending big to attract new business, raising hopes for a return of the area’s former industrial glory.
The company is betting the country’s departure from the EU next March will snarl south-eastern hubs like Dover, where limited space and hourly sailings could bump up against post-Brexit bureaucracy, leaving traders looking for alternatives.
“There are certainly some opportunities available for the Humber ports,” ABP’s head of Humber communications Dafydd Williams said during a recent tour of its vast Immingham complex.
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