Why Teesport For Freight Forwarding?

Why Freight Forwarding Through Teesport Is The Right Choice For Businesses?

Being included as part of the Northern Powerhouse initiative, first rolled out in 2010, Teesport has become a centre for international trade in the north of England in recent years.

With its new rail links for container transport to both Scotland and South Yorkshire being invested in – the potential for northern businesses to choose Teesport as their centre of operations for freight forwarding has never been bigger. Finally, there can be more choice for importing and exporting goods to and from the North of England than just the Humber and Liverpool Ports with a heightened and vibrant Teesport taking shape!

What Exactly Is Freight Forwarding & How Does It Work?

A Freight Forwarder, sometimes known as a forwarding agent, is a person or organisation that coordinates the movement of goods globally on behalf of both the importing party and the exporting one.

Their aim is to alleviate stress from businesses by maintaining all of the relevant goods documentation, arranging the clearance of certain goods through customs and overseeing the packing of cargo on destination and arrival.

Logistics can often be one of the most challenging areas for businesses at the best of times, however using a professional forwarding agent allows them to take peace of mind that they’re in the care of logistical experts when looking to transfer their goods.

To read some more on just how Freight Forwarding works, take a look at our recent handy guide here.

Who Would Typically Use A Freight Forwarder?

Using a freight forwarder might well be a smart option if you’re new to importing and exporting goods, dealing with suppliers in areas where you’re not well connected, or if you just want to make the import process run efficiently and as stress-free as possible for your organisation.

Typically, there is no right or wrong answer on who could benefit from freight forwarding. So long as the organisation is having to import and export goods in and out of the UK, there is certainly scope for them to reap the rewards of commissioning a forwarding agent to streamline logistical processes.

Why Teesport Is The New Obvious Choice For UK Freight Forwarding?

As mentioned in the introduction to this article, there are no shortage of options in the North for ports which businesses can forward freight through. Both Liverpool and The Humber Ports have long been operating as gateways to Europe and through the Atlantic, yet Teesport’s growth in recent years has not just made it a viable freight forwarding alternative, but an attractive one too!

So what’s driving this transition for many importers and exports to forward their freight through Teesport? Well, we’ve taken a look at some of the key features and recent developments to demonstrate the benefits for business.

Advantages of Teesport’s Location

The geography of the Tees estuary means that the majority of port infrastructure is located less than a mile away from the river mouth. Being the deepest water port on the entire east coast, with this comes the deep-water facilities and lock-free access to the North Sea, allowing larger container ships to access the ports easily on a daily basis.

Teesport’s Transport Links

As we touched on earlier, there has been the expansion of heavy goods rail infrastructure around Teesport in recent years. The expansion of their links North, to Scotland, and the direct line to Doncaster in South Yorkshire have made the logistical process of moving cargo to and from Teesport much easier.

Couple this with the existing road networks which link up with the A1(M1) for access to both the border in the north and the rest of England and Wales in the south – Teesport’s road transport network makes it far better connected than The Humber Ports which are further away from major motorways.

Better Managed Transport in and around Teesport

Even as freight traffic has been increasing around Teesport (due to its rising popularity), the travel infrastructure has held up and delays, queues and tailbacks are nowhere near the frightening levels seen around Felixstowe in the south.

Teesport’s Increased Investment

Over the last decade, the port has seen investment opportunities secured of over £1 billion. This additional investment has been put to great use, purchasing new state of the art equipment for the port, building on key infrastructure and fuelling the growth around Teesport exponentially.

Teesport’s Freeport Status

In late 2021, the Teeside Freeport officially began operations, elevating Teesport to the forefront of economic growth in the region. Freeport status has, in the words of Tees Valley Mayor Ben Houchen, “shown businesses that we’re a truly outward-looking, international region.” This move towards a more business friendly environment is sure to be more attractive to organisations wanting to run large parts of their logistics channels through Teesport in years to come.

What The Future Holds For Teesport?

We’ve spoken in extended detail about some of the recent investments, changes and developments which are rapidly elevating Teesport to being one of cornerstone economic assets nn the north in this article. But, what does the planned  future of Teesport look like? How will this benefit businesses and make the River Tees the go-to choice for freight forwarding in the future? Well, there are many interesting plans being shared by Tessport operator PD Ports.

The main aim of PD Ports for their locations on the River Tees is that by 2050, they project that this will be the UK’s most successful port region. Their ambitions of attracting high-value trade to the area and creating secure and sustainable jobs for the local community are at the forefront of their aims.

Naturally, freight Forwarding is going to be at the heart of this. Securing the commitment of import and export partners to Teesport is what will help lead this ambitious drive to higher value international trade and local freight forwarders such as ourselves are ready to support this renewed wave of gentrification in the local area.

Furthermore, unlike many other UK ports, Teesport has an incredible amount of nearby development land available for businesses and despite currently being one of the UK’s largest ports, this gives it the potential to expand even further. The planned development of the 4,500-acre former site of the SSI Steelworks just south of the river is currently the biggest development opportunity in the United Kingdom, with many businesses looking at developing the already world-class infrastructure which the port has to offer.

All in all, the achievements to date of the port in regenerating this industrial heartland has been phenomenal, and freight being forwarded through the port by businesses from all around the UK has helped drive that very regeneration.

The future looks bright for Teesport, and the continued investment and growth really do make it the obvious choice for business to use as the freight forwarding hub!