Solent Gateway takes official control of Marchwood

Solent Gateway has become the official operator of Marchwood Military Port – one of the UK military’s major logistics ports in Hampshire.

As previously reported, The GBA Group and Transport Specialists David MacBrayne Ltd, have teamed up under the name ‘Solent Gateway Ltd’ to run the 225-acre facility alongside the military.

Under the 35-year concession, Solent Gateway will primarily manage the movement of military materials and personnel.

Bosch Virdi, Commercial Director at The GBA Group, said: “We are delighted to have officially taken control of Marchwood Military Port on behalf of the Ministry of Defence.  Our primary focus in the short-term will be running port operations in support of the UK's strategic defence needs.”

In time, Solent Gateway will also be looking to develop and maximise the potential of commercial activity on the port.

Bosch added: “The development of commercial opportunities at Marchwood will be very much over the longer-term and further details of what these might look like will become available as we work through options.  We will hopefully be in a position to unveil some initial plans over the course of the next few months.

“The Port of Marchwood is ideally located to offer tremendous new opportunities to Global Shipping Lines, in order for them to take advantage of its multimodal connectivity to the hinterland and reduce transit times to customer.

“We look forward to building a long and successful partnership with the army and the local community in Hampshire.”