A record number of delegates attended the inaugural EVA Humber Innovation Day in Hull staged by ABP and innovation platform Plug and Play.
Organised as part of ABP’s Energy Ventures Accelerator programme, the event welcomed many stakeholders across businesses, academia, local councils and other partner organisations in the Humber region. This follows an EVA Inclusive Energy event organised last month, which provided a forum to discuss how businesses can work together to champion more inclusive growth and support founders and investors from under-represented backgrounds.
Addressing a packed audience at the Aura Innovation Centre, Max Harris, ABP Head of Strategy & Sustainability, said: “Through our EVA programme, ABP is on a mission to enable clusters of innovative ventures in the UK’s most important industrial hubs.
“We’re excited to foster these innovation ecosystems around our ports – whether that’s by direct investment or through facilitating connections across our network and it’s fantastic to see so many join us for the first step of this journey.”
As the UK’s energy estuary, the country’s biggest gateway for trade by volume and the home of four of ABP’s ports – Immingham, Grimsby, Hull and Goole – the Humber is central to the energy transition. Handling over £80 billion of trade every year, together with its partners, ABP supports over 90,000 jobs in the broader Humber and Yorkshire region.
Diana Taylor, MD of Future Humber, shared the “seven wonders of the Humber” and set out the case for why the region was more than a place, but was a powerhouse of change. “From its location at the heart of European trading routes to its leading infrastructure and connectivity and of course its secret weapon – the people, the Humber is the place to accelerate industrial decarbonisation.”
“The EVA Humber Innovation Day truly showcased the pioneering spirit driving change, and we’re especially proud of the resourcefulness shown by the organisers in involving students from Healing Academy and Ron Dearing UTC, inspiring the next generation of leaders.”, she said.
A further highlight during the day was a panel discussion titled ‘Ports and Partners: Enabling innovation at scale on the Humber’, moderated by ABP Group Head of Business Development, Ralph Windeatt and featuring Richard Gwilliam, Chair of the Humber Energy Board and Programme Director at Drax, Simon Green, CEO of the Humber Freeport and Phillips 66’s Humber decarbonisation manager, Duncan Hammond.
Simon Green, CEO of the Humber Freeport, said: “When looking at the best models to support startups and incubators, you can’t look past the triple helix approach – that is industry, government and academia working collaboratively together.
“Humber Freeport is keen to be seen as a gateway for companies looking to access knowledge transfer, networks and funding streams. We also have the sites across the Humber which provide a range of incentives for investors and several of ABP’s locations fall within these areas.”
ABP’s port estate provides a wide variety of strategic locations at the heart of industrial hubs, often benefiting from Freeport status. There are also opportunities outside the port boundaries, including a 182 ha prime development site at Humber International Enterprise Park– one of the largest development sites in Europe – and a 200+ acre Stallingborough Interchange site. Several of these locations benefit from Freeport status.
