London: After one of the more hectic weeks in the shipping calendar Lord Mountevans has had time to reflect on the importance of London International Shipping Week (LISW). With more than 100 events scattered around the British capital last week, London threw the doors open to many of its most prestigious buildings to welcome shipping’s great and good. This was the second edition of LISW, a chance to remind the world – and those in power on home soil – of the importance of maritime to the UK economy.
Mountevans, who heads up lobbying group Maritime UK and is also chairman of the LISW advisory board, tells Maritime CEO he was delighted with how the week went.
“There is a great deal happening in the maritime space in the UK. We have had an amazing week of programmes starting in Downing Street … which showed government’s interest in shipping,” says the champion of UK shipping, who also doubles up as a broker for Clarkson.
Last week a report was released, which Mountevans chaired, looking at how to get British maritime growing again. The Maritime Growth Study was, says Mountevans, “well received”.
“We need to optimise Britain’s maritime offer,” Mountevans says, saying the nation’s leadership in maritime needs to be better promoted. The study, he insists, is a “real call for action”.
As with any shipping confab there has been a lot of talk about getting UK maritime back on track, but will these words result in action? Mountevans thinks so, in no small part because government is firmly on side.
“The Department of Transport has really got maritime,” he says.
“This has been a journey that has taken a number of years. It is now very exciting; right up to the highest levels of government there is an awareness that Britain has a massive amount to offer, we just must make sure that government is very well joined up, try to simplify processes, bring things to this cross government ministerial committee that the government will introduce.”
Lord Mountevans was also interviewed for Splash TV, which readers can access by clicking here.
For a full archive of everything that happened at last week’s London International Shipping Week, click here.
