To ensure that the UK Government continues to provide the most effective support to UK-based companies the Minister for Trade has recently appointed a leading industry figure, James Sutcliffe, to be chairman of UK Trade & Investment’s Ports Advisory Group (PAG).
Mr Sutcliffe will chair this influential group of senior business people who represent all areas of the sector, all focused on providing strategic advice to the UK Government to ensure UK port companies grow through international trade. The Ports sector has always been in Mr Sutcliffe’s blood. His family firm of John Sutcliffe & Son (Grimsby) Ltd is one of the oldest shipping companies in the country, dating back to 1862.
He has spent his entire working career in the ports industry, delivering major port projects in different parts of the world. In addition, he has an entrepreneur instinct to spot the less than obvious and think outside the box.Mr Sutcliffe is Chief Executive of DCT Gdansk, a British based consortium that recently won the contract to build, manage and operate a deepwater container terminal at the Port of Gdansk in Poland. It was this project that really demonstrated to him the full value of UK Trade & Investment in helping UK companies win business overseas. He said “UK Trade & Investment raised my profile and opened doors. They held functions for local freight companies interested in operating through the container port, and arranged meetings with senior ministers at remarkably short notice. It was highly impressive that they could deploy such pulling power.”
PAGLooking forward, Mr Sutcliffe recognises that the ports sector is an ever-changing industry and is passionate about exerting dynamic management techniques to meet the demands of UK companies.Mr Sutcliffe is committed to ensure the PAG play a central role in helping UK Trade & Investment deliver an ambitious and challenging programme of events and activities that will help UK companies achieve success in overseas markets. He is excited by UK Trade & Investment plans to deliver offline and online information tools to promote UK capabilities and UK companies within the ports sector to overseas customers. “Driven by the PAG, these innovative and comprehensive services are an excellent example of government and industry working together.”
