Forth Ports chief executive to outline his vision at Courier Business Briefing

RENEWABLES: Charles Hammond has overseen millions of pounds of infrastructure improvements at the Port of Dundee

The boss of Forth Ports will outline his vision for the future of the Port of Dundee at a Courier Business Briefing next month.

Charles Hammond has overseen several multi-million-pound investment programmes into the port since his appointment as chief executive in 2001.

He will share his plans for building a 21st-Century port at the breakfast briefing which has the theme of Decom and Renewables: The Opportunity.

The event, held in association with Fairways, will be held at Malmaison in Dundee on Wednesday March 18.

Mr Hammond said: “The coming decade is set to be transformative for Dundee. The development of the city’s waterfront is well chronicled, but its industrial rebirth is focused just along the Tay at the Port of Dundee.

“It’s here that we are preparing for construction to start on the Neart na Gaoithe offshore wind farm, while the decommissioning of the North Sea’s oil and gas assets looks set to provide work for the city for years to come.

“I’m looking forward to sharing our plans for the port and the impact these will have on the whole of Dundee.”

Forth Ports owns and operates seven ports on the east coast of Scotland – including sites at Burntisland, Kirkcaldy and Methil in Fife – and the Port of Tilbury in London, which is undergoing a £1 billion expansion.

It is the UK’s third-largest ports grouping providing integrated handling and distribution services and solutions to a wide variety of customers through its ports, handling a wide range of commodities.

Mr Hammond is also the chairman of the UK Major Ports Group and is a member of the Scottish Energy Advisory Board.

Last year the Port of Dundee received its first major decommissioning project, the Curlew, and was selected by EDF Renewables for the assembly of 54 turbines for the Neart na Gaoithe wind farm project off the Firth of Forth.

Another £40 million of infrastructure investments are due to take place at the port over the next three years.

After his keynote speech, Mr Hammond will be joined by representatives from port businesses for a question and answer session.

Liz Jackson, managing director of Fairways, said: “As a local business within Tayside, we are proud to be sponsoring The Courier’s business briefing event during Dundee’s epic journey from good to great.”

The event will start at 7.30am and run until 9.30am.

Tickets, priced £25, include a buffet breakfast and can be purchased from thecourierbriefings.co.uk

Charles Hammond, chief executive of Forth Ports.