Great Yarmouth is the principal port serving the oil and gas industry in the southern North Sea. It handles some 1.3m tons per annum of general cargo, including forest products, agribulk and aggregates.

Approval has been granted for the development of a new outer harbour with a depth of 10m and potential for over 1,000m of berths.

Commenting on the proposal, Stephen Eldred, chairman of Great Yarmouth Port Authority said, 'The competition to find a commercial partner began with expressions of interest from a number of parties, and the decision to move forward with the preferred partner was made after evaluation and interview of the two parties who submitted the strongest proposals. Both bids were of a high standard, however International Port Holdings' proposals were the most economically advantageous.

We were particularly impressed with the clarity of their business proposals, and their readiness to proceed quickly to contract close and a start of construction.'

International Port Holdings was recently formed by Alistair Baillie, who was previously the chief operating officer of P&O's international port division, and Eliza O'Toole, whose city legal career focussed on strategic major infrastructure projects and regeneration.

Alistair Baillie said, 'Our strategy is to focus senior industry expertise and attractive capital resources on the small to medium sized port sector. Smaller ports play an important role in the overall transport system and are important to their local communities. Their scale is, however, disproportionate to the overheads of the major port industry entities and, as such, IPH aims to satisfy a niche in the port market through providing a dedicated and specialised focus on this sector.'

Englefield Capital, a private equity fund, is supporting IPH with equity capital which together with debt finance will enable the investment of £200m over the next few years.

MJInformation No: 22212