Overview

Simply put, Logistics is about getting things from where they are, to where they need to be, and Maritime is the portion of this journey done by sea. 

When we order something online from eBay, Amazon, or other online platforms, the goods are coming from anywhere in the world, and each and every item needs to be physically transported from wherever they’re made all the way to your doorstep. This sector is all about the processes, people and planning which make this possible.

The Liverpool City Region has always been a gateway to the world – the River Mersey and our natural coastlines facing West have shaped commercial and cultural life here for centuries –between 1830 and 1930 about nine million people left Europe to sail to North America, Australia and New Zealand from Liverpool, which was the largest emigration port in the world at the time, and as the “second city of the empire” in the past our docks were the focal point of trade to and from the whole world.

Even though the days of dockers and tall ships have gone, in 2020 Liverpool handled 31.1 million tonnes of freight, making it the fourth largest port in the world by tonnage of freight, so we’re still an international port in every sense.

Today we are still a gateway region for shipping to and from many areas of the world, in fact the Port of Liverpool is the UK’s major gateway for trade with the United States and Canada, serving over 100 global destinations. 

What do we mean by Maritime and Logistics?

Maritime and Logistics overlap because they are part of the same overall process but working onboard a ship is very different to working on land, so sometimes the two are treated slightly separately. You may also hear the maritime industry called the “Merchant Navy”

Maritime

Shipping goods to and from different ports and countries still brings in a huge amount of the raw materials we need, the food we eat, and the consumer goods we demand, and takes our exported products abroad for sale – and these goods are then transported onward by rail, sea, road and air across the UK and beyond to where they are needed for use of further distribution.

Logistics can involve lots of different systems, (or “modes”) from HGV lorries trundling down the M62, to flights to and from Liverpool John Lennon Airport, to freight trains running on the Merseyrail and North Western railway systems, to giant container vessels working out of Seaforth, or even the DHL van which arrives outside your house with that exciting delivery you’ve been waiting for.

It’s the science of moving things for commercial reasons –  safely, on time, in the most cost-efficient way and to meet the needs of the businesses involved. 

There are many jobs we can see in this sector, such as drivers, handlers, crane operators, delivery drivers, etc, but also many we can’t – people working in the background include planners, warehouse staff, maritime staff, programmers, administrators, managers and the allied professions which support the main activities such as insurance, legal contracts, HR, IT, planning, marketing and sales, and many, many other diverse and interesting specialities.

But it’s not just the Liverpool City Region which works this way -the Maritime and Logistics sector is an essential part of how the UK buys and sells things – as an island we import most of  the things you can buy in the shops, and with modern technology allowing more and more items to be purchased online from all over the world, this is adding to the importance of how we move raw materials and consumer goods around.

Some other sectors, such as advanced manufacturing and retail, depend on the Logistics and Maritime sectors to ensure they can access goods or raw materials at the right quality, in the right quantity, and at the right price for their needs, and conversely to make sure have an efficient method for exporting their products to other national and international businesses across the globe.

As an island nation, import and export are an essential part of our prosperity, and while views on Brexit may be mixed there is no doubt that it will be a great opportunity for major port cities on the west of the UK, like Liverpool, to trade with markets such as the US.

Maritime and Logistics in the Liverpool City Region 

Our City Region offers a highly integrated cluster of modern logistics assets and expertise. These assets are delivering faster, greener global market access for companies that are moving goods to and from the rest of the world. 

International customers and suppliers are within easy reach by air, with Liverpool John Lennon Airport and Manchester Airport both within easy reach of the port services.

Because the cost of land and property is extremely competitive here and operating costs are among the most favourable in the UK, our region has a wealth of available sites and specialist facilities ideally suited to modern logistics needs, and for this reason our Region is home to the logistics, warehousing and supply-chain operations of some of the world’s leading companies such as: ACL, Bibby Group, Cammell Laird, Cargill, Orsted, General Motors, Iberdrola, Ineos, Jaguar Land Rover, Maersk, NSG Pilkington, QVC, Stobart, TJ Morris, Unipart and Unilever.

In addition, the port facilities themselves are world-class, Liverpool SuperPort is a major private sector-led development by Peel Ports which will integrate the strengths of the ports, airport and freight communities, into a more effective and cost-efficient environment for freight cargo logistics and passenger transit within the Liverpool City Region. Major infrastructure projects associated with the development include a deep water in-river container terminal at Seaforth, Mersey Gateway Bridge, and the expansion of Liverpool John Lennon Airport.

Liverpool’s location gives direct access to the Manchester Ship Canal and links the North and South of the UK. It is also one of very few locations capable of connecting East and West Coast operations, through fully-integrated ports, land holdings, marine fabrication and supply chain solution.

We’re famous for the quarter of a million cars made in our Region each year; and for Europe’s biggest bio-manufacturing cluster. We’re recognised for the hundreds of global brands that are made here and shipped around the world. 

Liverpool City Region is a place where digital technologies enable real-world solutions to radically transform the way we ship, handle and deliver goods. It’s where supercomputing meets shipping and Big Data opens up huge opportunities. We’ve got the ports, the roads and the railways; the airports, warehouses and all the things you’d expect from a world-class logistics hub – but we’re also home to smart stuff too… Supercomputing; Robotics; Virtual Reality; Internet of Things; Sensors; Big Data and Big Science. We’ve got the largest supercomputing facility for industrial applications in the UK and also the highest concentration of robotics for materials.

With more than £1 billion of infrastructure investment, including the £400m Liverpool2 deep water facility, Liverpool can now service 95% of the world’s largest container ships, opening up faster supply chain to at least 60% of the UK container market. 

These expanding facilities will provide even more capacity and attract more importers and exporters whose goods are destined for the North of England to switch delivery of ocean freight from South East ports to the Liverpool City Region, especially as new trading patterns are opening up following Brexit.

Here in the Liverpool City Region we have the talent, the infrastructure, the reputation, the facilities and the network to support businesses moving goods around the world, and with this comes diverse and high quality employment for over 26,000 people.

Given this, and new ways of working influenced by technology, employers will increasingly have a large number of diverse roles available for people looking to develop their careers.

The sector has a fantastic history, and all the indications suggest a fantastic future – if you want to be part of it or would like to find out more why not have a look at some of the amazing jobs and further information on this site.

Quick Facts

Logistics

• Approximately 486.1 million tonnes of freight are handled by UK ports annually, and the figure is rising.
• There are 205,380 logistics enterprises in the UK.
• There are currently 1.7 million jobs in the UK logistics sector. This sector is one of the world’s biggest industries, with the UK’s road transport industry being the biggest in Europe!
• 85% of everything we wear or eat has been transported by a UK lorry.
• The logistics sector contributes £127 billion Gross Value Added (GVA)1 to UK economy.
• The United Kingdom (UK) has the most advanced e-commerce market in Europe, and online retail saw a huge rise during Covid, and averaged 28.1% of retail sales in 2020, up from 19.2% in 2019.
• The transport industry is set to grow by 21% during the next 10 years – hardly surprising given that on average, a food item travels at least 1500 miles before it finally reaches your house.
• The world’s largest container ship can carry over 24,000 TEU’s (twenty-foot equivalent unit), which when fully laden is the same weight at 300 jumbo jets.
• There are over 53,000 merchant ships transporting goods around the world.
• There are currently over 20 million shipping containers in the world.
• Peel Ports has invested £400 million over the past three years constructing Liverpool2, to expand the UK’s largest transatlantic port and create one of Europe’s most advanced container terminals.
• Network Rail has forecast that rail freight could grow by around 30% by 2035 if sufficient capacity were made available.
• Around 89% of all goods transported by land in Great Britain are moved directly by road, and 98% of all food and agricultural products in Great Britain are transported by road freight. Approximately 98% of all consumer products and machinery in Great Britain are transported by road freight.

Maritime

• The world’s first ever steel hulled ship, first ever lifeboat station, first radar controlled port and first ever commercial wet dock were all in the Liverpool City Region.
• The UK maritime sector directly supports 7,900 highly productive jobs and generates £650m with a wider economic impact of £1.7bn annually. Globally, 1.5 million seafarers work in the shipping industry. 98% of those are male and only 2% are female.
• Approximately 95% of international freight tonnage arriving in the UK is moved by sea.
• There are almost 26,000 UK seafarers at sea.
• Nationally, the maritime sector supports over 1 million jobs and adding £46.1bn to our economy, maritime is responsible for facilitating 95% of UK global trade, worth over £500bn per year.
• Port City Liverpool is an ambitious new project to take advantage of the increasing trade opportunities across since Brexit.
• Our deep-water Liverpool2 container terminal can service 95% of the world’s largest container ships, opening up faster supply chain transit for at least 60% of the existing UK container market.
• They may not know it, but very single person in this country, every single day, will touch, use and eat goods that have been brought to the UK by ship. That is because 95% of all imports and exports are moved by sea. 
• 26% of global shipbroking is undertaken in the UK –  significantly more than any of its rivals.
• The Liverpool City Region Combined Authority and other partners have invested £700,000 in the Port City Innovation Hub and Maritime Knowledge Hub to help nurture the next generation of successful maritime businesses – and all the jobs and growth that they will create.
• In one year the average container ship travels the equivalent of three-quarters of the way to the moon and back. 
• Globally, there are around a staggering 55,000 cargo ships on the oceans at any one time, carrying approximately 20 million containers.
• The largest container ship can transport almost 24,000 containers.  Let’s put that into perspective –  it would be able to transport in excess of 900 million bananas…..

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