Sea and Saltire - My first voyage to Scotland
Leaving a London shrouded in fog for the brilliant sunshine
of the Scottish capital, I yesterday met with key players in the Scottish
maritime sector. The Northern Lighthouse Board, Scottish Enterprise, and members of the
Scottish Maritime Cluster shared their thoughts and insights on the future of the sector, and areas where
we can work closer together. We also discussed Scottish engagement with the new
report series being produced by Maritime UK to quantify the value and role of
the maritime sector.
Building on strong and globally recognised expertise, Scotland offers our global industry a wide range of world-class maritime services and support, with an emphasis on engineering, innovation and people, including:
- Europe’s largest ship management cluster
- World class naval ship design build and support
- Globally recognised support to offshore energy operations
- Leading maritime universities and academics
The State of the Maritime Nation report, for which Maritime UK has commissioned the Centre of Economic and Business Research (Cebr), will be published in September at a Parliamentary Reception during London International Shipping Week. It will produce a study of the sector, covering its value, role and prospects. The research will build on the previous series, published in 2017 and will demonstrate the significant contribution the maritime sector makes to both the Scottish and UK economies.
Scotland will naturally feature prominently in this report, as a sector that is both a major contributor to the Scottish economy, as well as to the maritime sector UK-wide. For the first time the report will include a forecast on the future of the sector based upon Cebr’s modelling of various scenarios, as well as planned investments and strategies within Scotland.
The visit to Edinburgh this week was also a chance to visit the Northern Lighthouse Board (NLB) at their historic George Street offices to discuss upcoming plans for London International Shipping Week, at which they will play a major role. The NLB will be providing the venue for the Maritime UK Careers Hub, as their ship, the NLV Pharos, will be moored next to HMS Belfast.
We’re looking forward to working closely with the whole sector in Scotland through the Scottish Maritime Cluster as Maritime UK initiatives its Regional Cluster Development Programme.
I was struck by how central the maritime sector is to Scotland, and equally how important Scotland is to the UK maritime sector. Thank you to the Northern Lighthouse Board, Scottish Enterprise and the Scottish Maritime Cluster for stimulating insights and a warm welcome to Scotland – see you again soon!
With Mike Bullock and Mike Spain at the Northern Lighthouse Board