Port of Dover - Dover System Efficiency Review

The Port of Dover is Europe’s busiest ferry port, handling £144 billion of trade, 33% of the UK’s trade in goods. The harbour was entrusted to a board chaired by the Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports by royal charter of 1606.

This board was reconstituted by Act of Parliament in 1861 and renamed Dover Harbour Board (“DHB”). DHB’s role is to administer, maintain and improve the harbour of Dover, so that the port is open to everyone who wishes to load or unload cargo or to embark or disembark passengers.

The Port of Dover is a Trust port, DHB is a statutory corporation rather than a registered company, it has no shareholders and is accountable instead to a broad range of stakeholders. The Board is responsible for the effective strategic direction and control of the business and in order to discharge that responsibility properly, it strives to achieve best practice in corporate governance within the boundaries of an entity which is not listed.

To ensure that the business is run in a responsible manner it is committed to the principles of openness, transparency and accountability. The Board continues to follow the “Ports Good Governance Guidance”, issued by the Department for Transport in March 2018, and has identified further good practice in the UK Corporate Governance Code as published in updated form by the Financial Reporting Council during the year.

The legal duties, powers and obligations of the Board are derived from national legislation, its own acts of Parliament and a variety of statutory instruments relating to the operation of ports. The business does not have shareholders.

Nevertheless, the Board is accountable to its stakeholders for the performance of its duties and it encourages regular dialogue with its different groups of them in the furtherance of its objectives. The DHB group currently comprises Dover Harbour Board, Port of Dover Cargo Limited (10333520), Core Operational and Services Team Limited (11209566), Dover Developments Limited (09206042), Dover Waterfront Limited (09437228) (dormant) and Port of Dover Limited (07087839) (dormant).

All subsidiary companies are 100% owned. DHB wishes to appoint a service provider to identify inefficiencies that exist in the system and implement solutions that will support network / short straits growth, improve the travellers’ experience and ultimately reduce cost per unit