Local residents bid to buy Dover Port

At the beginning of the year the Dover Harbour Board, the body that oversees the operation of the largest UK port still in the public sector, made a formal application to the Secretary of State for Transport to move from trust port status to voluntary privatisation.

The Dover Harbour Board believes the change will guarantee the port’s ability to meet the needs of its customers over the long term and leave it free to pursue other commercial opportunities to grow the business, both in Dover and elsewhere.

Currently the port comprises a hybrid structure in which it pays no dividends and reinvests all its earnings; it is in the public sector but is not owned by the Government – although the UK Treasury will benefit most from the proceeds of privatisation