Bringing key parties together over their common goals

The past month has seen Team Humber Marine Alliance chairman and chief executive Mark O’Reilly step down. David Laister caught up with him after a decade at the helm of a journey that has taken the Humber from a major player in the UK’s blue economy to gr

HORNSEA was this mythical thing - something of that scale - we wondered would it ever happen? I remember going to planning meetings in Immingham and giving evidence of what impact it could have - the supply chain - and it is happening now and working.”

Mark O’Reilly has seen it all on his watch. An ambassador, a collaborator, a Humber champion and champion networker - bringing key parties together over common goals.

His departure from the bridge of Team Humber Marine Alliance to an executive cabin down the passageway has drawn tributes from many quarters, for while Orsted and Siemens Gamesa have been the big names taking huge strides, support and sustaining the surge has been part and parcel of the second day job for him and others. “It was February-March time when I first talked to the board,” he e said of plotting his departure. “I said 10 0 years, I had it in my mind, and it gives the opportunity for fresh blood, and allows s me a new challenge too.

“I came back after a break in the new year to instigate it, but then Covid kicked in and it was full on about how we dealt with that.

“It has been an amazing journey. Offshore Wind Connections (the annual conference that has gone from an audience of 50 to 500 in eight years) has always provided me with a time for reflection, and we’ve not had that, but one thing that has always struck me is that we - as members and as the Humber - have always had ambition, and we’ve marched on. “We’ve seen companies get involved in projects here, and even though they are now finished - or operational - they’ve moved elsewhere, perhaps not working in the Humber.

“It is an unusual situation, and can be difficult to get across for some people. We started talking about a global industry five or six years ago, and now it certainly is that.” The shift in interest as the UK - dragged forward by the Humber opportunity - emerged as the UK leader.

“In 2013 we went on a few missions, we took in Germany, Bremerhaven and Esbjerg, Denmark, and people were blown away with what they saw,” he said.

“That has then been done here, we have had the US here, and we developed an amazing relationship, resulting in not only companies doing work there, but the likes of GEV and Boston Energy setting up new HQs and creating 175 jobs between them.

“We had the twinning with New Bedford and Grimsby - amazing.

“It has felt like a million things happening over the period, and people still want to come and see what we’ve done - China, Japan, South Korea all interested as they develop too.” For Mark, the work on skills to feed into the burgeoning industry has sat side-by-side with the efforts on economic development - the beauty pageants and technical backing to attract vital inward investment.

“We would like to have had a turbine facility and a tower facility by now, and I’m pleased with what is still going on, but I’m delighted with the skills piece,” he said. “There was simply no skills support for offshore wind training in this part of the world. Hota, HFRC - essentially the fire brigade - Boston Energy, Siemens, Maersk, Catch and Modal, they’ve done it. A national training centre for Siemens Gamesa at North Lindsey College, where I was a governor for four years, and helping set up UTC Scutnhorpe, a facility also now thriving.” Of the investment, with big successes such as the operations and maintenance cluster, headed by Orsted’s £14 million world leading East Coast Hub and the Hull blade plant, he said: “I spent a lot of time working with Able - on the marine energy park - and it looks like that is now coming through, then there has been the research and development investment - the Aura facility and fantastic Ergo Centre, and now the Offshore Renewable Energy Operations and Maintenance Centre of Excellence in Grimsby.”

Offshore Wind Connections is a source of particular pride, as it scaled up.

“It was here, in the Humber, at the sharp end, not in Manchester or London, here, and we made it informative and inspirational, and there was some great collaboration we did.” Team Humber - led by Mark and faithful right hand woman Mary Green - worked closely with the likes of national trade body RenewableUK, it welcomed Lord Prescott, brought the top tiers of Orsted, Siemens Gamesa, Innogy (RWE) and others to the lectern. When we started out I’d look at the audience and know every single person - but it soon changed,” he said.

One particular year will go down as a vintage. In 2012 the event opened on the same day Siemens signed up for Green Port Hull, prompting something of a party. “That was really quite surreal” he said, with the mood such that you sensed many could have walked across the river to Forest Pines, such was the momentum.

While renewables has been a focus, there has been strong work on the pure maritime sector too.

The Humber Ports Group drew together DFDS, ABP, GBA and PD Ports, developing the industrial strategy to feed into regional government, via North East Lincolnshire Council, while also showcasing the offer and encouraging importers to look north and avoid the congested south.

“The blue economy, the business of the sea, was what Team Humber Marine Alliance was all about - now there are freeports to explore.”