Sutcliffe appointed chairman of British ports group

Sutcliffe appointed chairman of British ports group

   James Sutcliffe has been appointed chairman of the British government’s UK Trade & Investment’s Ports Advisory Group (PAG).

   Sutcliffe is chief executive of DCT Gdansk, a British based consortium that recently won the contract to build, manage and operate a deepwater container terminal at the Port of Gdansk in Poland.

   PAG is “focused on providing strategic advice to the U.K. government to ensure U.K. port companies grow through international trade,” the ports group said in a statement.

   British controlled ports and shipping interests have taken a dive of late following the sale of P&O Ports, P&O Nedlloyd and CP Ships to foreign companies. Last month, The U.K.’s largest port group, Associated British Ports Holdings rejected a preliminary takeover offer of '2.3 billion ($4.08 billion) from a consortium headed by Goldman Sachs and the Government of Singapore Investment Corp.