Blog: Regional collaboration through good times and bad

Former Prime Minister, Harold Wilson, once said: ‘A week is a long time in politics.’ Well, a week is also a long time in the maritime sector too it seems and indeed with current events as they are, a day is a long time in the life of all that is happening in our country. On the regional cluster development front it has certainly been a busy few months.

An optimistic start to 2020

When the Maritime UK Regional Council met at Anfield Football Stadium in February, hosted by Mersey Maritime, members were almost universally optimistic about the opportunities and activity that lay before us. With an expanding group of regional cluster organisations in attendance, including prospective members in new areas where we are looking to build capacity, our agenda focused on five key areas:

• Maximising the opportunity of the Government’s Freeport agenda at the heart of where they will be delivered – the regions – with a briefing from HM Treasury officials
• Building plans around the regional delivery of the national #MaritimeCareers campaign, which our cluster organisations challenged to deliver their own bespoke events at a local level
• How our regional cluster organisations can showcase all that is great and dynamic about the maritime sector during Maritime UK week
• An in-depth briefing from Department for Transport officials around the Clean Maritime Plan and the creation of Clean Maritime Clusters. This is an important focus for many of our cluster organisations, not least owing to their engagement across the country in offshore renewable energy but innovation to deliver zero carbon in manufacturing and leisure marine too, and
• Focusing more acutely on how regions deliver the priorities set out in Maritime 2050 with individuals taking ownership of involvement in specific areas.

From Cornwall to the east coast of England, the sense of collaboration on these key projects was tangible. Our regional cluster organisations are the grassroots drivers of activity and cross sector working at the coalface to see the ongoing spirit of engagement and enthusiasm to deliver on the ground is hugely encouraging for Maritime UK to see.

The visit of HMS Prince of Wales, berthed in one of her two affiliated cites of Liverpool for the first time, followed hot on the heels of the Regional Council, in March. The third incarnation of the UK-US Maritime Nations Forum, aboard the 65,000 tonne vessel, in one of the UK’s most historic maritime cities with a strong recent track record of regeneration for the industry, was an important opportunity. The focus on international trade and the challenge and ambition to deliver as comprehensive a free trade agreement as possible between the UK and America was the focus of the day. No mean feat! In the context of sitting in the UK’s largest west facing port, a strong flow of ideas and expertise dominated the afternoon hosted by the Royal Navy. This further underpinned the sense of regions, with several represented, helping to drive forward the agenda in this important area for the future of the UK economy, not least in their ability to engage with and bring to the table a range of partners and key strategic businesses. From Western Union Business Solutions and Royal HaskoningDHV to major shipping lines such as ACL and Maersk, the range of debate pointed to the vast possibilities that are available and the value of direct input from businesses already engaged in transatlantic markets on a daily basis.

Responding to the unprecedented Coronavirus challenge

Fast forward to April, being three weeks into the Covid-19 lockdown in the UK, and the picture couldn’t be more different! Yet one theme remains true: the vital role our regional cluster organisations have to play in representing and supporting the maritime ecosystem in their region at this most critical of times. The coronavirus pandemic is an unprecedented challenge and the maritime sector is at the epicentre - our shipping companies, our logistics specialists, our freight forwarders keep the country supplied in everything from food, to medicine to fuel. Our regional cluster organisations are once again part of the grassroots efforts to ensure we are #KeepingBritainSupplied.

The Regional Council has met remotely on three occasions since the start of the crisis and will continue to do so. Whilst this is a valuable opportunity to offer moral support, it is critical chance to exchange ideas and best practice at this time. Regional activity and growth will be critical to the economic recovery that will need to follow in rapid succession to the unprecedented hit in peace time on our nation.  Just some of the work going on across the country is worthy of note:

• Cornwall Marine Network, one of the key drivers of the newly formed Maritime UK South West, have radically overhauled their business model in the last few weeks. With direct support given to members through the cancelling of fees, their service offer remains as strong as ever with the launch of digital ‘face to face’ events; the development of a business recovery advice service; a range of marketing resources and the transformation of their renowned one day business skills workshop into a digital format. A fantastic and agile response to changed circumstances.
• Solent Local Enterprise Partnership, of which Maritime UK Solent is a critical arm, have been offering direct support to businesses facing the real time brunt of the Covid-19 challenge. They launched, with great success, a fund for micro/small businesses in collaboration with Crowdfunder UK. Aimed at getting cash quickly to small enterprises with a cash injection of between £2000 and £5000, the LEP initiative (with some £600,000 of funding) is proving a vital lifeline to a range of critical businesses in the battle to survive.
• Although, like other businesses, the physical Mersey Maritime office may be closed, the organisation have relaunched their core services as online activities. Two online ‘Face-2-Face’ events have already taken place with senior maritime figures including Bob Sanguinetti of the UK Chamber of Shipping; a weekly online members’ surgery is available to all members; daily online ‘Member Shout Outs’ are taking place to cast a spotlight on individual member businesses and a complete overhaul of the company website is underway, including the provision of a dedicated Covid-19 page and a reformatted and enhanced members’ directory.

These are just some of the examples of the rapid and direct response and action being taken by our regions at this time of challenge. And across the board of the regional organisations, they have this week launched perhaps one of their most significant projects yet: a ‘Maritime Business Support Survey’.

In discussions between the RCOs, it became apparent that whilst regional Growth Platforms are doing valuable work in engagement with a wide range of businesses and assessing the impact of Covid-19 on their operations and future prospects, maritime wasn’t always as prominent in this analysis as might be desired. This deep dive response in a simple format, is intended offer a ‘ninety second snapshot’ into what is happening on the ground, where specific problems might exist around support packages from government and the identification of individual companies who are struggling and might require additional support. Critically this isn’t just a cosmetic exercise to be seen to do something. Our RCOs are represented on the Maritime UK ‘Maritime Business Continuity Taskforce’ which provides for a direct route into taking these concerns forward - to Government - for action and remedy. The first cut of data is expected in the coming days.

Future plans and engagement

Finally, our regions are keen to look to the future and the wider work of Maritime UK in this area continues apace. We are in advanced discussions with colleagues in the South East (via the University of Kent and hopefully in partnership with the South East LEP) to develop a new cluster organisation which is already underpinned by some excellent research and analysis from a colleague we have been engaging consistently with.

Sadly, owing to chaos on the rail network in March, it wasn’t possible to hold our follow-up meeting with a range of partners across East Anglia to develop further our work in Norfolk, Suffolk and north Essex. We are committed to moving this forward and our main partner, the New Anglia LEP is engaged with the Regional Council on an ongoing basis.

North of the border, in Scotland, we are delighted to welcome Duncan Cunningham as the Executive Director of the Scottish Maritime Cluster. This new appointment will give a real impetus to the work of the cluster organisation there, with the post funded through Scottish Enterprise.

All this significant work offers hope for the vibrancy and dynamism of the Maritime 2050 focus on ‘Regional Growth’ in the months to follow.

Our regional cluster organisations are doing their level best to respond to the biggest post-ward challenge of our times. Maritime UK is fully committed to helping them deliver this essential activity both now and when life – hopefully – returns to a little more like normal in the future!