An interview with Shoreham Port

Ahead of the Mega Bite-sized on Branding and the Bite-sized Learning on email marketing, we caught up with our sponsors for September, Shoreham Port. 

             1)      Tell us about your team

We are a relatively small team given the size of the Port. We have just under 120 employees and we operate from two main sites, our head office at Nautilus House along the A259 and from our Operations Division based on Basin Road South.

We have four main departments, Administration, Engineering, Marine and Operations. We have many highly skilled members of staff who undertake specialist roles such as commercial diving, piloting and crane driving. The Port is always open. We operate 365 days per year, 24 hours a day. The majority of our Marine staff work shift patterns dependent on the tides.

Shoreham Port offers a supportive working environment and promotes personal development and training. We have a low staff turnover and many of our staff have worked for the Port for over ten years.

2)      Describe a typical day at Shoreham Port

Given the diversity of the Port and all the roles, it’s hard to describe a typical day at the Port as no two days are ever the same! But most days we can expect to see between five and six shipping movements, which usually involve one of our pilots joining the captain on board to advise him how to safely navigate the vessel into the Port.

Over in our Property Department, the team ensures our tenant’s needs are met on a day to day basis, our Administration team answer stakeholder queries and handle mooring enquiries and our Marine Department ensure that visiting vessels are being cared for.

Our Operations Division discharge and load cargo and our Engineers ensure the smooth running of the Port, as well as maintaining our coast protection. Our days can be pretty busy, to say the least!

3)      What are some of your current challenges?

Limited space is a challenge due to the significant growth of the Port over the past ten years. Fortunately, we have been able to create additional cargo handling areas, for example, the conversion of the Rombus terminal, Power Station Quay and Fishersgate Bulk Terminal. The Port masterplan is working very well as we continue disposing of our land in the Western Arm whilst acquiring land in the Eastern Arm for operational purposes.

4)      What are some of the biggest misconceptions about the Port?

Not really a misconception but many local people simply don’t know what we do! We focus a lot of our marketing efforts on educating adults and children about the many activities taking place at the Port. As a Trust Port, we also offer a number of free events throughout the year, including our boat tours, where we invite members of the public to see how things work ‘behind the scenes’. Although we have seen huge improvements in stakeholder engagement, we are always looking for ways to expand our reach within our local community and look forward to holding some exciting new events in 2018.

5)      What are your goals for 2018?

Whilst always striving to improve efficiency and provide a first class service to our cargo customers, we will also continue to diversify and expand our property portfolio, to provide a balanced revenue stream. In particular, we look forward to improving the facilities at our newly acquired business centre, Maritime House. The centre is based on Basin Road North and provides fully serviced offices to over thirty tenants. Our new Fishersgate Bulk Terminal is fully functional and we will be targeting a variety of additional bulk cargoes through this facility.

6)      How do you use the Chamber of Commerce for your organisation?

We attend many of the Chamber’s Bite-Sized Learning sessions and our staff have benefited from courses based around topics such as digital marketing, productivity and cyber security. We very much enjoy the Chamber breakfasts and networking with people from a diverse range of businesses. Being a member of the chamber helps us to connect with the business community in and around Brighton and we look forward to connecting with new and existing members at future events.

7)      Tell us some fun facts about Shoreham Port

·         Shoreham Port is 257 years old

·         1600 local jobs are provided in the footprint of the Port

·         Jellyfish love living in our canal thanks to the cleanliness of the water

·         You can spot many starfish at the bottom of our locks

·         Over twenty members of our team volunteer for the RNLI

·         Local school children named our two wind turbines Spinny & Gusty this year

·         The Port is home to a number of A-list celebrities including Fat Boy Slim, David Walliams and previously, Adele

Thanks to Shoreham Port for writing this blog. 

If you want to contribute to the Chamber blog, contact us on hannah@brightonchamber.co.uk