ABSTRACT
In a report on port reform published in 2007, the World Bank identified five key changes predicted to radically influence port operations in the 21st century. These were: the intensification of global competition; new technology; changing distribution patterns; environmental, safety and security concerns; and shifting bargaining power as a result of realignments and consolidations amongst port users and port operators (World Bank 2007). This chapter reflects in particular upon two of these five factors: changing distribution patterns and shifting bargaining power, and assesses their influence upon the Humber Estuary ports, the largest concentration of port activity (in volume terms) in the UK. The structure of the chapter is as follows. In the next section we detail the UK ports sector, and focus in particular on the relative role of the ports along the Humber Estuary. Following this, we examine the changing nature of port ownership, linking this to wider debates on the changing nature of the global economy. We then turn to the impact of logistics developments on UK ports, and in particular consider the development of port-centric logistics.
