South East of England

SE Cluster


In recent months Maritime UK has been engaging positively with a number of potential partners to deliver the establishment of a regional cluster organisation in the South East of England. It is envisaged that this will broadly cover the geographical area of the South East Local Enterprise Partnership, which is Essex, Kent and East Sussex. There will be one or two tweaks around the edges owing to other activity to establish similar organisations in neighbouring areas, notably East Anglia.

Despite the challenges of engagement as a result of COVID-19 restrictions, we are keen to press on with this work and feel confident that we are now nearing a position to do so. SELEP and our partner at the University of Kent, Simon Barnes, are liaising closely and seeking to build a database of interested stakeholders. To that end, we would welcome interested parties getting in contact by completing the form below. 

Regional cluster organisations:

  • A hybrid of trade body, chamber of commerce and lobbying ‘organisations’
  • Loosely based on the German cluster model
  • RCOs support and intervene in a single industry / associated sub-sector
  • Focused primarily on support the creation of jobs and growth in the maritime economy
  • Championing a particular region leads to a direct correlation between RCO, increased productivity and innovation – growth and job generation across all sizes of business within the industry

What do regional cluster organisations do?

Their primary role is to help create regional growth, supporting national aims and objectives (Maritime 2050):

  • Increase the profile of a region, working in collaboration with national trade bodies and local stakeholders, to champion the maritime industry
  • Provide the region with a critical pathway of communication and intelligence to government and key industry stakeholders
  • Intra-regional collaboration, creating the framework for collaboration and alignment of activity across a given region
  • Driving export and foreign direct investment activity
  • Conduit between industry, education and government
  • Networking/mentoring programmes, creating the ecosystem that is vital for growth
  • Knowledge/best practice sharing at a regional level and then in turn nationally
  • Deliver national programmes, regionally, e.g. careers promotion, diversity initiatives


Register to hear more about cluster development in the South East