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DP World’s UK row resolved: DP World will confirm at a London investment conference today that it is committing GBP 1 bn (c. USD 1.3 bn) in investments to the DP World-operated London Gateway, Bloomberg reports, citing a source familiar with the matter.
What happened? A report on Friday had said DP World was putting the plan on hold after UK Transport Secretary Louise Haigh and Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner criticized the port operator’s employment practices and called for a boycott of DP World subsidiary P&O Ferries.
Starmer walks it back: UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer rebuked Haigh and Rayner, saying theirs was not “the view of the government” — and DP World welcomed the PM’s intervention. “Following constructive and positive discussions with the government, we have been given the clarity we need,” DP World said in a statement on Saturday.
A boon for London Gateway’s operations: London Gateway — which boasts three berths with a four set to open within weeks — would see the addition of two more berths, increasing the port’s capacity by 50% and bringing DP World’s total workforce there to 1.6k from 1.2k. The expansion would strengthen London Gateway’s position to take over Felixstowe as the UK’s busiest container facility by 2030.
BACKGROUND- DP World is investing AED 2.1 bn to expand London Gateway, Dubai’s First Deputy Ruler Maktoum bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum said in a statement back in August. Construction work on the London Gateway expansion project — which will handle around 55% of the UK’s Southeast cargo — launched nearly two years ago.
