Maritime Growth Study: keeping the UK competitive in a global market Moving Britain Ahead September 2015 The Department for Transport has actively considered the needs of blind and partially sighted people in accessing this document. The text will be made available in full on the Department’s website. The text may be freely downloaded and translated by individuals or organisations for conversion into other accessible formats. If you have other needs in this regard please contact the Department. Department for Transport Great Minster House 33 Horseferry Road London SW1P 4DR Telephone 0300 330 3000 General enquiries https://forms.dft.gov.uk Website www.gov.uk/dft © Crown copyright 2015 Copyright in the typographical arrangement rests with the Crown. You may re-use this information (not including logos or third-party material) free of charge in any format or medium, under the terms of the Open Government Licence v3.0. To view this licence visit http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3 or write to the Information Policy Team, The National Archives, Kew, London TW9 4DU, or e-mail: [email protected]. Where we have identifed any third-party copyright information you will need to obtain permission from the copyright holders concerned. Contents Foreword 3 Executive summary 5 Introduction 5 Supporting the UK economy 5 A sector that we can grow 7 A vision 7 Driving growth 8 Leadership recommendations 9 Skills recommendations 10 Marketing recommendations 11 Implementation 12 1. Introduction 13 Maritime: A global business with the UK at its centre 13 Why was the Study required? 19 Scope and terms of reference 24 Governance structure 24 2. Establishing the evidence base 26 Evidence gathering 26 Findings 28 3. Industry leadership 30 The UK maritime sector 30 Supporting maritime businesses 35 Case for change 36 Recommendations 38 4. Government leadership 40 UK government maritime structure 40 International comparators 45 Case for change 54 Recommendations 56 1 Maritime Growth Study: keeping the UK competitive in a global market 5. Skilled workforce 62 UK excellence 62 Training provision 64 Maritime careers awareness 67 Case for change 68 Recommendations 70 6. Marketing 76 Promoting the UK Ship Register 76 Promoting maritime 77 London International Shipping Week 78 Case for change 78 Recommendations 80 7. Innovation, clustering and stability 82 Innovation 82 Clustering 87 Stability 90 8. Conclusions 95 Industry leadership 95 Government leadership 96 Skilled workforce 97 Marketing 99 Innovation, clustering and stability 100 Vision 101 9. Recommendations 103 Industry leadership 103 Government leadership 104 Skilled workforce 106 Marketing 107 Implementation 108 Glossary 109 Annex A: Estimating the size of the sector 113 Annex B: Study terms of reference 117 Annex C: Division of maritime responsibilities within the UK government 120 Annex D: Maritime administration maps 123 2 Foreword The report for the Maritime Growth Study: keeping the UK competitive in a global market is the culmination of many months of work involving widespread engagement and detailed research. The result is a ‘call to arms’ to industry and government to actively support and raise the profle of a vital sector that contributes signifcantly to the economy and which the nation relies on to meet its daily needs. As a lifelong practitioner of shipbroking, the signifcance of the maritime sector to our island trading nation has long been known to me, as has the reliance of the rest of the world on our diverse maritime cluster. However, the sector sometimes appears to be invisible to policymakers and the general public, with UK maritime services quietly keeping the world’s seaborne trade moving and keeping our supermarket shelves stacked, all with little fanfare or media attention. The Study is a chance to reverse this state of affairs and highlight a vibrant, global sector comprising various successful industries that can deliver against the government’s stated priorities of rebalancing the economy, enhancing productivity, increasing exports and ‘a Britain standing tall in the world’. The departure of large scale commercial shipbuilding from our shores has forced the sector to evolve, bringing to the forefront our expertise in maritime-related business services, as well as marine manufacturing, engineering and technology. We may no longer build the largest commercial vessels, but we continue to provide services to the world that support their charter, insurance, sale and purchase. We also design and supply the essential components that are critical to their operation. Our largely private sector-led ports market also remains a global success and Britain’s offer in maritime education, training and research is unrivalled. This ‘one-stop-shop’ of maritime services is exported worldwide and encourages businesses, including shipowners, to locate and invest here. However, we must evolve again if we are to remain the world’s leading maritime centre; we cannot be complacent about our position in the global market or the decline of UK shipping interests and shipowners, both domestic and foreign. If imitation is the sincerest form of fattery, then there are several maritime nations seeking to emulate our success both in Europe and the Far East. I therefore urge industry and government to build on their existing partnership to take forward the recommendations in this report. The Study’s publication at London International Shipping Week 2015 is no coincidence; it sends a clear message to competitors and potential customers that the UK takes this sector seriously. This is a once in a lifetime opportunity to enhance the contribution of the UK maritime cluster and exploit the expected growth in world 3 trade to help create jobs, increase the export of our maritime services and encourage maritime-related investment across the country. This is a sector rich in SMEs and innovation and one that, with the right conditions, can contribute to enterprise, productivity and both national and regional growth in the UK. What I have recommended, however, will not be without challenge. In particular, industry will need to come together to focus on those issues that are most important to our sector as a whole in order to create a body that genuinely represents and promotes UK maritime. If this cannot be achieved, we will have failed to capitalise on the biggest opportunity in nearly two decades to have maritime take its rightful place in the government’s economic plans. I am extremely grateful to the members of the Maritime Growth Study Advisory Group, particularly its Chair, Michael Parker, for their support. Michael and the other members of the Group have dedicated their valuable time to this project despite busy schedules on a wholly voluntary basis. The Study has beneftted from their constructive input and expert business knowledge. I am also most grateful to the Department for Transport and its Ministers for commissioning this Study and providing an excellent, well-resourced and hard-working secretariat to deliver the project. Finally, I would like to thank the many individuals and organisations who have submitted evidence, participated in workshops or taken the time to meet me and my secretariat. These vital contributions have helped to inform and shape the conclusions and recommendations of the Study. The Study has been both thorough and far-reaching. At its launch event, I was urged to be both aspirational and radical. I have borne that advice in mind, but also aimed to produce something that is practical and achievable. It is my genuine hope that I have formulated a package of action that both government and industry can get behind to grow our sector and establish the UK as the world’s leading maritime centre. Lord Mountevans 4 Maritime Growth Study: keeping the UK competitive in a global market Executive summary Introduction 1 The Maritime Growth Study: keeping the UK competitive in a global market was launched in November 2014. The Study has been led by an industry chair, Lord Mountevans, and supported by a secretariat from the Department for Transport. 2 A strong and positive response to the Study from across the sector resulted in 153 written responses to the call for evidence from businesses, organisations and individuals. This is in addition to evidence collected from stakeholder workshops and interviews carried out with prominent fgures from the sector. 3 The recommendations have been developed after careful consideration of this evidence and the fndings of an economic research report into the international competitiveness of the UK maritime sector1. They have also been informed by the conclusions of the UK Ship Register Advisory Panel, an independent panel of shipping industry experts commissioned by the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) to review the current performance of the UK Ship Register. The Chair has been supported throughout by an industry advisory group comprising senior business leaders who have provided guidance and direction to the Study. Supporting the UK economy 4 Evidence collected as part of the Study underlines the economic importance of a sector which not only includes shipping and ports, but also encompasses a wide range of other activities such as training, business services, engineering, manufacturing, research and development. It is evident that all these businesses need to be promoted and considered together as a mutually reinforcing, world-beating cluster of maritime activities. As such, references to the maritime