Bosses at port owner Peel Ports welcome senior officials from the Department for International Trade to see the potential offered by facilities such as the new £400m Liverpool2 terminal. Tony McDonough reports

Port of Liverpool owner Peel Ports Peel Ports has welcomed senior officials from the Department for International Trade to the Mersey.

A team from the department, led by director general John Alty, carried out a fact-finding trip which included a tour of the Liverpool2 deep-water container terminal.

Peel bosses emphasised the potential Liverpool2 and the port offers in a post-Brexit world.

Mr Alty heard from the Peel Ports team about significant trade opportunities between the US, and the rest of Americas, particularly in agricultural produce.

Liverpool is an existing gateway for food and drink imports, which are used extensively in retail, processing and manufacturing sectors, while there are also major opportunities in UK food and drink exports to the US.

Peel Ports’ commercial director Stephen Carr said: “There is huge potential to use our facilities to increase trade with the Americas and consequently strengthen our domestic food and drink sector.

“The fact is that our location provides a more efficient route to market for west-facing trade when compared with ports in the South East of the UK.”

Liverpool is the only major container port in the north or west of the UK, offering access for cargo shipped via deep-sea vessels.

Its facilities provide capacity for growth, with onward road, rail, ship canal and short-sea shipping connections to markets across the UK and Ireland.

Peel Ports also has an established relationship with the specialist transatlantic shipping lines and many of its UK export customers.