Rishi Sunak ‘thrilled’ by £300m DP World investment
DP World, a Dubai based supply chain logistics company, has announced it will expand a London port to increase supply chain resilience.
The £300m investment builds on the £2bn in funds that DP World has funnelled into Britain over the last decade and will add a fourth berth, a parking space for a ship, to the company’s London Gateway port.
Chancellor of the Exchequer, Rishi Sunak said: “Our new freeports will create national hubs of trade, innovation and commerce, and attract more investment to regenerate communities and level up the UK.”
“Bringing ports and business together to invest in their regions is crucial to the Freeports success story – that’s why I’m thrilled that DP World is investing £300 million to support Thames Freeport – creating new opportunities, boosting growth and supporting local jobs,” he added.
Mr Sunak will be guest of honour at today’s commercial launch of Thames Freeport, which is made up of the Port of Tilbury, Ford’s Dagenham plant and the DP World London Gateway. The development plans will increase capacity at the port by a third, helping London Gateway to cope with a 23 per cent increase in throughput on the previous best performance for the first half of a year.
Sultan Ahmed Bin Sulayem, Group Chairman and CEO of DP World, said he was “delighted” to announce news of the expansion and hopes the company will “be at the heart of Britain’s trading future.”
News of the expansion comes as the world faces ongoing supply chain disruption as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic. Supply woes in the UK have been worsened by Brexit with the country’s largest supermarkets reporting food shortages.
Read more: Dubai Port owner DP World snaps up US logistics firm Syncreon for $1.2bn