Good afternoon, everybody, and welcome to this session of the Welsh Affairs Select Committee. My name is Ruth Jones and I am Chair of the Committee. I am delighted today to say we have an extra guest on our Committee. Claire Hanna is joining us from the Northern Ireland Affairs Committee. Thank you very much for joining us today, Claire. It is much appreciated. Today we will be investigating the impact of the closure of the Holyhead port on the UK, Welsh and local trade and business, and exploring the strategic importance of Holyhead in facilitating trade between the UK, the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. We have a distinguished panel in front of us today, and I want to say thank you to you gentlemen for coming in person to see us. We have a lot to get through, so as usual I am going to make a plea for short questions and short answers. Our Committee members will target who they want to answer the particular question, so I think that should be okay. Could I start by asking you all to very briefly introduce yourselves?

I am Dr Edward Thomas Jones, Senior Lecturer in Economics at Bangor University.

Good afternoon. I am Gary Pritchard and I am the Leader of Ynys Môn County Council.

Good afternoon. My name is Ian Davies from Stena Line Ports Limited.

Good afternoon. My name is Howard Browes, Chair of Cybi Business Forum and a business owner in Holyhead.

Brilliant. Thank you very much. That is great. It is good to see you. My first question will be to Stena Line. How well prepared was the Holyhead port for Storm Darragh on 6 and 7 December? What warnings did you get and what precautions were you able to take in order to mitigate the worst of the disaster, if you like?

We had plenty of warning. We have full exposure of weather forecasts. Just to clarify, today I am speaking as the port operator. I cannot speak on behalf of the ferry companies and so forth, just to make that particular point. The weather forecast is well known. From a week inwards we get updates on what that weather forecast is. Both ferry operators have their own weather forecasts, but the weather that was coming was well known.

What specific precautions were you able to take or did you take?

The ferry operators update us in regards to their sailing schedules and so forth, but weather is part of the day-to-day business of the ports on the Irish sea. It is not unusual that several times a year we have storms coming through.

This time was different, wasn’t it, because obviously the port was closed for six weeks? Why did it take so long to reopen?

I can make a comment on that. On 6 and 7 December, there were two berthing incidents at Holyhead port. Subsequent to that, it rendered the ferry terminals inoperable and those ferry terminals did not reopen, or partially reopen, until 16 January. Those incidents are now subject to an insurance claim and I can give no further details without prejudicing that insurance claim at this time, I’m afraid.

It is very frustrating for us, but we understand where you are coming from with that. I will hand over to Claire Hughes.

I have a question for you, Mr Davies. Going on from that, given what we know about the increased frequency of severe storms and weather incidents, what will you do differently in the future to better protect the port?

Like all things, we will review what has happened. Our focus currently is getting the port reopened, but we will review our operating parameters in line with the ferry operators and make appropriate changes if we think it is necessary.

Is there a timescale for that review or have any terms of reference been set for that?

Our initial focus was reopening one of the berths. Our focus now is getting that second berth back open. Yes, when it is appropriate we will take that review with the ferry operators.

I would like to direct my question to Dr Jones on the UK economy. The new UK Government and, indeed, the Welsh Government have made it very clear that economic growth and building the economy is the No. 1 priority. I just wondered how important the Port of Holyhead is to the UK economy.

I suppose there are various ways we could look at the importance of the port to the local economy, the Welsh economy and even the UK economy. The easiest place to start is with the jobs produced at the port. In total, I think that there is roughly around 580 jobs that are directly employed in the port by both Stena and Irish Ferries. If we look, then, at what other jobs are supported by the port through the supply chain, but also by people who are employed either directly through the port or through the supply chain and how they spend their money, we can use various multipliers for that. A reasonable multiplier that we have for the local impact of the port is about 1.7. We know there is roughly around 400 jobs in addition to those employed directly at the port that in the local area are dependent on the port. If we look at it at a UK level, we have a multiplier of roughly four. Again, that is reasonable looking at other ports in the UK. We know at a UK level, purely on Holyhead port there is about 1,700 jobs dependent on this port, so it clearly has a big economic impact from a jobs perspective. If we think about exports from Wales, we know that Ireland is in the top three trading partners with Wales. We have £2.5 billion of goods going from Wales directly to Ireland. Not all of them will go through Holyhead port, but the port does play an important role in transporting those goods as well. When we think about the north Wales economy, we know that manufacturing is important and a lot of those exported goods would be manufacturing based, so it is a critical component of that.

What do we know so far about the impact the port closure has had on UK trade? We know that it has had the local impact with regards to jobs and services on Ynys Môn, but do we have any indication of how it might have affected UK trade on the whole in that route?

I think it is too early to say. It is something we are still looking at. We know a lot of businesses, particularly on the Irish side, have looked at alternative routes. However, we did hear similar messages during the time of Brexit and they did revert back to using Holyhead port. I suspect it will take us a few months before we are able to say for certain the impact that it has had.

Holyhead is obviously vital for supply chains, not just for the UK but between Britain and Ireland, so the taskforce is very welcome. All the work to find new routes probably just underlined how much movement of people and goods there is still between the islands and the continuing scale of interdependence. Can you quantify how important Holyhead is for trade between the UK and the Republic of Ireland? Where does responsibility lie for the future resilience of Holyhead in particular? I might direct that to Ian Davies.

If you look at Holyhead port itself, there are three connections directly to Dublin either from the Mersey-Liverpool region, from Holyhead itself, or down the south, what we call the southern corridor between Fishguard and Pembroke into Rosslare. I would say Holyhead is probably on a par with Liverpool, so it is one of the big routes into that port. Quantity wise, it is approximately 1.5 million passengers per year, and I clarify that passengers includes car passengers, foot passengers and freight lorry drivers. It is approximately 400,000 cars and approximately 400,000 freight units per annum. Those figures did go backwards considerably during Brexit, but they have been rebuilding again. That is just a rough approximation to quantify what scale of operation the Holyhead port is.

In terms of investment in the port, where does Stena see its responsibility for financing it? Is that UK Government or Welsh Government or is that a—

Sorry, just for clarity, Stena Line is a private company.

But it is an operator. It operates that port. That is what I am trying to understand.

Oh, sorry, yes.

Who is responsible for the future resilience and the investment in it?

Okay. The port is owned by Stena Line Ports, and just for clarity there are two ferry companies that operate into the port, Stena Line Ferries and Irish Ferries, who are equal competitors and customers of Stena Line Ports. The port is a private entity and it is our responsibility.

Thank you for clarifying that.

I want to follow up on the implications of the storm because we have established the importance of Holyhead. Ian, do you view this as a one-off freak event? I noticed you used the words “if necessary” for the resilience point moving forward. Do you see this as a one-off event that happens and we have to deal with it but ultimately this will not be something that happens frequently so we take the ramifications and move forward? Is that how you are viewing it as an organisation?

Sorry, could you just clarify the question again?

You used the words “if necessary” to the earlier question that was put to you in respect of looking at the planning for the future from the effects of this severe weather. We have established the importance of Holyhead from a trade point of view. I was wondering whether you viewed this as a one-off event and that going forward we manage it, but if another event like this happens, so be it, from your planning point of view.

No, far from it. This is an exceptional event and like any responsible port owner we will undertake a review to see what lessons can be learnt, absolutely. That has to be taken into consideration. As a port operator, it is our role to make sure that these events do not happen or happen infrequently, but events do happen and we need to make sure that we can minimise the potential of these events happening, first, and minimise the consequential effects should they ever happen. That is one of the roles that we need to undertake.

You do not view the six-week period for reopening acceptable as part of the planning?

We didn’t plan to close the port for six weeks. It is a consequence of that event, yes.

Yes, but you do not view that as acceptable, that length of period of that—

Any closure is unacceptable from a ports point of view. We understand our position as a port owner. It is our business. We want to keep that port open 24/7 every day of the week. That is our aim. That is our business. That is how we earn our revenue. It is critically important that we are able to provide that as the port owner.

I would also like to direct my question to Mr Davies. Since the UK left the EU, have alternative trade routes emerged to connect the European mainland to the Republic of Ireland that circumvent Holyhead and, if so, can we quantify the effect this aspect of Brexit has had on the Welsh economy?

Okay. I am sitting here as the port owner and operator, but I do know, yes. More routes have opened from the Republic of Ireland direct to France and into the continent, yes. That is a fact. That happened around the time of Brexit. Yes, there is greater demand on those corridors. Have we been able to quantify it? As the port operator, immediately before Brexit we saw a stockpiling. We saw an increase in the months leading up to the date. We then saw a very sharp decline for the first two months. Then there was a recovery and that recovery was relatively quick, but it is still recovering. From a low after about three months it was down. It was notable last year that the port and the ferry operators have started to regain some of those lost volumes, but that may not necessarily be down to Brexit. It is very hard to pinpoint some of those, but I suspect some of it is to do with other ferry operations in the Mersey to Liverpool region and changes of tonnage and capacity. It is also fair to say it is probably that the freight haulage industry has adapted to those, but it has definitely taken its time, yes.

This is another question for Ian and Dr Jones. How strategically and economically important is Holyhead in linking Great Britain to Northern Ireland?

Extremely. It is one of the large corridors that connects Wales/UK to Ireland. Because of the shortness of the crossing and the frequency of the crossing, it adds a dynamic, especially to the just-in-time logistics industry, which perhaps other corridors do not have. No, I cannot overemphasise how important it is. It is critical as part of that. I would also say it is one part of that whole logistics chain and if you were to step back and look at it, it is the robustness of that logistics chain. Holyhead is just one part of that logistics chain and there are other parts of that logistics chain that perhaps need reviewing or considering for the future as well.

To add to that, I did try to find statistics to support the importance of Holyhead to trade with Northern Ireland. Unfortunately, the statistics are not clear so I cannot make any comment on that. However, looking at the infrastructure that is in place, I would agree with what was just said on the importance. By looking at the infrastructure, it is clear the role Holyhead port has in that supply chain.

How much of the cargo that moves through Holyhead continues to Northern Ireland?

That is what I am not sure of from looking at the data. I would not be able to filter out what is going to Northern Ireland and what is remaining in the Republic. If we were able to get hold of that data, then I could answer that question.

Can I just comment on that? Of course, pre-Brexit we as a port operator, there was no boundary so there was no understanding of those. There was a feeling in the industry pre-Brexit that roughly a third of the cargo that went through Holyhead port was destined to or came from Northern Ireland because of its short link between Northern Ireland, Dublin and into the UK logistics sector. Approximately one third, and that was pre-Brexit. How that now plays out I cannot give a feeling to, but that is roughly the quantum we were looking at at the time.

You mentioned just now the supply chains and looking at the legs of the journey, if you like. You said other things need to be considered. What else do you think needs reviewing?

If you look at the logistics flow, obviously Anglesey is an island, and that for me is the obvious one. It is that link to UK/Wales and then that crossing of the Severn Bridge. There is infrastructure there that is two bridges that are 200 years old, and that is key. They are both single carriageway so in high winds the bridge is closed. In the event of a road traffic accident, the bridge is closed. We are very reliant on that. That is perhaps one. The A55, the dualling of the road across the island, was very successful and it made a huge difference, but the last half mile was never completed. I think perhaps that is something also, not only from a robustness of logistics but also probably for the people who live in the locality. That is perhaps something else that needs considering as well, among other things, just off the top of my head.

This is a question for Gary and Ian again. Have you observed any benefits to Ynys Môn since Holyhead was granted freeport status?

Not as yet. Obviously, the tax sites have only just been noted, so we are working towards what we hope will be a redevelopment of the area. We have seen the old Rio Tinto site bought by Stena, which has been demolished and completely cleaned and is ready to be used as a site as part of the freeport. It is too early as yet to see those benefits. We can only foresee what is coming rather than say yes, we have seen an actual benefit.

Yes, there is relatively small-scale work currently under way, but what the freeport has done is raise the opportunities on Anglesey. It has also perhaps highlighted some of the problems that the community has and the economy has, but it has raised the prospects of opportunities on Anglesey. It is our role as a freeport now to capitalise on those, to bring those benefits to the community.

Would you be able to say if the port is on track to meet the target of creating 3,500 to 13,000 jobs by 2030?

I think the target of jobs is something that we need to be careful about. I do not think we want to be overpromising. The people of Anglesey have been overpromised many things in the past decade, and it is tiring for the people to be overpromised. It is important that we are realistic in our targets. We are talking about an area that has seen a lot of closures, factories closing, job prospects minimal. We are seeing our young people leaving the island, which is why the freeport offers, as Ian says, opportunities for us to ensure that our young people are able to stay on the island, are able to work on the island and do not have to move away. We have an island that has a very ageing population. We are seeing young people moving out and older people retiring to the island. This is the challenge that we have as an authority and the freeport gives us the opportunity to face those challenges head on by securing good job opportunities for our youngsters.

I want to look at Holyhead’s importance to regional Welsh trade. To Dr Jones and Mr Browes, how important is Holyhead port to the Welsh economy, particularly in comparison to ports such as Milford Haven and Port Talbot?

Again, it is certainly an important part of that trade. We know that Ireland is an important trading partner for Wales. It has consistently been in the top three trading countries: £2.5 billion of goods went over in 2023. Some of them will be going through Holyhead port—not all, but there will be a large proportion. In terms of tourism, we know that many tourists use the ferries at Holyhead. They will be spending money locally. That happens both ways. We have tourists going over to Ireland. They will stop on their way over to Anglesey. We also get tourists from Ireland visiting Anglesey, so it is an important part there. How we quantify that, I would not be able to say for certain the economic impact, but we can look at the number of jobs locally. We are looking at 986, nearly enough to 1,000, jobs dependent on that port and local, and then an additional 1,600 to 1,700 jobs at a national level dependent on the port.

I think you have to understand Holyhead. It is a port and there are a number of businesses around it, but it is seasonal in some ways as well. Certainly, in terms of what we call the visitor economy, there is a period between normally Easter and October when we do see a lot of visitors, especially overseas visitors visiting the town and staying in the port either side of a trip to and from Ireland. We were talking about the closure period. The closure was particularly pertinent for businesses because it overlapped with Christmas and that would be quite a busy period during the quieter offseason. Some of the hospitality businesses noted it because they lost a lot of the Christmas bookings. It was especially pertinent for them at that period in time. Yes, I think we have to recognise that Holyhead does service the visitor economy but it is seasonal.

Can I add to that? I know that the question was about trade, but I don’t think we should underplay the tourism element. Obviously, Anglesey is a tourist destination. The tourist economy is very important to us as an island and, as Howard was saying, you get the visitors from either side, travelling over to Ireland and staying in Anglesey for a few days beforehand or on the way back. Anecdotally, growing up in Holyhead, we knew the number plates of cars from Germany, Holland and wherever because there were so many overseas visitors. I don’t think that should be underplayed either in the discussions about the port’s importance to the island.

I will just add that, in the statistics I have, nearly a quarter of overseas visitors are from the United States, so there is the link with Ireland that way.

Do we have a heat map, maybe, on the travel that goes through Holyhead port and where it either originates from in Wales or goes to in Wales? I imagine there is a lot of trade that goes down the A55 route. It may stop off along the north Wales coast to businesses there or it may carry on through to Dover and on the land bridge. Or does it go elsewhere in Wales? Do you have an idea of how it distributes from Holyhead?

I am afraid I would not have statistics on that, but again thinking about what Wales exports, we know that machinery equipment is a big export from Wales. If we consider the north Wales economy, we know that manufacturing plays an important part in that economy. Therefore, I could imagine that a large part of that did come from the region.

Okay. I travel on the Holyhead train back from London most weeks and on Thursday nights it is very busy. There are a lot of people on their way to Holyhead, I am guessing to go to Ireland—I do not know. Do we have an idea of the reverse way, stuff going into Holyhead and where it is coming from? It is probably the same question in reverse.

Those statistics are available. Unfortunately, I do not have them at hand.

Is there any chance you could send them to us if you have them?

I will.

There is a new piece of work looking at using the BT Active Intelligence data. It is a new piece of work using the Smart Towns project, and information such as that we can collect moving forward because it does show from where people originated and when they came into town. We are not that far into the project as yet to see that information, but there is work under way to look at it.

It would be interesting to see the outcome of that. To add to that, thinking about north-west England and north Wales, that whole infrastructure going across, we have touched on it in a previous question about the A55 but also rail as well. What improvements in that linkage would be the best things to help Holyhead prosper in the future and link it into the freeport developments as well?

We have touched on the obvious one, which is the bridges. The resilience of the bridges is vital to us as an island. We had a discussion in the Islands Forum when we met with Scottish islands, who claimed we were not a real island because we were so close to the mainland. Yes, we are close to the mainland, which means we get the best of both worlds. We have access to emergency services, the hospital, and the university, which is a big employer just over the bridge on the mainland. We do share those services with the mainland, but of course we then get the worst of both worlds if the bridges are not open, because we then do not have access to those. The resilience of the bridges is vital, not just for transport links to the port and transport links to the freeports, but also just for the resilience of the island as a whole. In Storm Darragh we saw the new bridge—we call it the new bridge, but it is 200 years old—closed and we saw lorries trying to get over the old bridge, which caused all manner of problems. The worry on the island is that that could mean that emergency services could not get on or off the island, whether it is taking someone to hospital or a fire engine coming on to the island. It is the resilience of the bridges, and not just in terms of the ports, it is the resilience of the island as a whole.

Can I pick up on Ian’s point about the A55 not being finished? From a local community point of view, Holyhead can become a bit of a bottleneck at times with the volume of freight coming. It does make it difficult. In fact, if you talk to a lot of the locals, they knew not to move around when the ferries were coming in and out, but it is something that needs to be considered in terms of the town moving forward and certainly if the port is going to develop any further.

Finally on that point, would you be aware or do you understand any effective bottlenecks such as further down the A55, perhaps nearer the Wrexham/Chester end or at Crewe station, for example, or Chester station that might have an impact on the port in terms of delaying traffic both ways? Is that a notable effect that anyone could identify?

I do not think there is anything that stands out. From our perspective, the bottlenecks are at both ends of the A55 on the island, be that the bridge leading into the port or the two bridges leading off the island.

I hark back to the point that Holyhead is unique in the role it plays in this just-in-time logistics chain between the two economies. The ferries are so large in Holyhead that there are times—night-time, as you will know—that these will come in probably with around 4 or 5 km of freight back to back and they are on to the UK network. Any bottleneck on that crossing has a ripple effect, not only for the port but for the island in its entirety because there is no other way to get off the island. Delays and closures of those bridges cannot be underplayed.

It is all about the bridges, is what you are saying.

No, it is all about the whole logistics chain. I respect that today we are here about the port, but for myself it is the robustness of that logistics chain and perhaps the robustness of the Welsh ports. What other parts can Welsh ports play when these situations do happen? I think that perhaps is ultimately worth considering as well in the future.

We might come back to that in a minute.

I have a quick comment. I think the Smart Towns system is working well. There is so much information that we can get from that across the whole of Wales, which helps businesses tailor their opening times. Knowing exactly when that footfall is coming into your town is so important, isn’t it? I know you have touched on this, but I will ask Mr Browes first and then we will go to Mr Pritchard. The port has been described as the beating heart of Holyhead, and we know it is. How economically significant for Ynys Môn is Holyhead port?

Are you thinking about it from a business perspective in terms of the local economy?

Well, business and the local economy, because both are intrinsically linked.

Obviously, the port is a significant employer in the town, and most families who live in Holyhead will have some connection with the port in some way. In terms of the businesses, again it is providing for the different markets, isn’t it? A lot of the time during the tourism season we are responding to the visitor economy. Certainly, in the busy peak season, there is a significant number of visitors who come through Holyhead from the town. They either stay in the chain hotels or the independents that are in the town. During the summer season you would be lucky to get a room because there is such a demand. Then you have the spin-offs in terms of the pubs, the restaurants, the cafés and so on that service it. I would say that the hospitality economy is very dependent on the visitor economy. As for the retailers and some of the other businesses, they rely a lot on the local trade. It is not often that people on the ferries will come into the town. Some may, some might not, and it depends on what the business is. From the information I am looking at at the moment, I know that the retail park is very heavily used by people coming on and off the ferries and to a certain extent by some of the freight drivers as well now. It probably is the beating heart of the town, yes, but it is not just the town. The town is quite reliant on it and, therefore, anything that affects the port has a knock-on effect for all the businesses.

The town of Holyhead exists because of the port, and in a town of 11,000 or 12,000 people, to have 600 jobs directly employed in the port shows how important it is. As a county council, we had a survey for local businesses to tell us how the closure of the port has affected them. It has affected more businesses than we ever may have considered—an array of businesses that are affected by the closure of the port, not just the garages, the logistics companies and the hospitality trade. These are all the obvious businesses that we may have thought about. We spoke to a restaurant that saw the number of covers that they had over the month of December collapse. They had not even realised that they had so much business coming to the restaurant, passengers who were on their way to the port or on their way from the port. When the port closed, that impact was instantly felt. We have spoken to pubs in the town. Because Stena did everything within its gift to ensure that the freight kept moving, it meant that the Stena staff moved to Birkenhead or Fishguard and the town was left not just without the port and the passengers coming through the port but without the staff who live in the town and would normally be spending the evening having a pint or going to the shops to do their weekly shop. The effect on the town of not having the port open was more than just the passengers moving in and out. Things that we may not consider straightaway became obvious to us how much the town and the island depends on the port. It is quite startling how many different businesses, retail from footfall in the town going down, logistics, the beauty parlours even, because the staff in the town were not there. They had moved up to Birkenhead or Fishguard to work. As a lad who grew up in Holyhead, it has always been there and it was quite odd not to see ships coming in and out. It was almost comforting in January to see Irish number plates again. It did show how much it impacts on the town.

My second question was about jobs but that has already been answered by Dr Jones, so I will throw a bit of a curve ball here towards you. I hope you do not mind, Chair. Do you think that being part of the customs union would help businesses in Holyhead and secure the Port of Holyhead? Yes or no, it does not have to be a long answer.

Yes.

Well, first, Holyhead port is secure—I would just like to make that point, irrespective of the customs union. Could I also refer to your last question? I am south Walian born and bred. I have worked in Holyhead for 20-plus years. What I have noticed, and we are always conscious of this, is that we are a big part of the town and a big part of the community. We were one of the big employers. The island has lost a lot of the other big employers, so relatively speaking our position has probably grown in importance. We have lost the nuclear power station and more recently we have lost the chicken processing factory. Relatively speaking, the port has not changed but it has grown in its importance to the local economy, I would say. Going back to your question on Brexit and pre-EU, I think the answers speak for themselves about what happened to trade before and after. I would say businesses have adapted, but it was so easy to do trade prior to that than afterwards. It has added complexity. It has added cost without a doubt because the administrative element now for the freight haulier, somebody has to pick that cost up. Anything that adds that to trade is always detrimental to that trade would be my overarching feeling on it.

Yes, and for those very reasons the fact that trade between the UK and the EU is now overly complicated, it inevitably has an impact on businesses. With the amount of freight that travels through our ports, be it from Wales to Ireland or England to France or England to Holland, it is inevitable that rejoining the customs union would make trade far easier and by implication would see more trade.

I will keep my answer short: yes.

The reason I ask is because as part of our pack it shows that most of our trade is with Europe, not the US. We tend to look elsewhere, but most of our trade is on our doorstep. That is the simple reason why I asked. Diolch yn fawr.

Just on that, if you look at, especially pre-Brexit, how the supermarkets viewed Britain and Ireland, they saw it as one market. There were no boundaries. It was all part of the logistics chain from the warehousing to the delivery. That was how they viewed it. There was no border, effectively, and that has changed. The other thing on reflection about this is that businesses do adapt, but what is noticeable—and maybe the haulage industry is better placed to comment on this—is that the smaller freight operator, the one-man driver, the family business, generally has been throttled. That perhaps is a fair comment to say, because they do not have the time or the resource to adapt, and therefore the bigger players have got bigger, the smaller players have perhaps been forced out of that market.

We could spend another session looking at the impacts, but we will not be going there today, thank you, gentlemen. Councillor Gary Pritchard, you mentioned earlier on the survey that you have undertaken with local businesses. Is that publicly available?

It is not at present. The closing date was 31 January, so the council officers are still evaluating the data that has come in. It is part of our evidence to Welsh Government in the hope of gaining some sort of hardship fund for the businesses that have been impacted. I am sure once the data is available we can make sure you get a copy.

That would be very helpful. Thank you very much. I will move on to Henry Tufnell, please.

Just building on the topic of the survey, were you satisfied with the level of response? Will you be able to quantify that financial impact to businesses through the survey?

The responses we had varied because we did not ask for specifics, we just asked for an idea of the impact. As I say, this is part of our evidence gathering to put forward to the Welsh Government to prove that there has been an impact on businesses. A truck service garage on the island, as you may imagine, would be more impacted than many. They said the impact could be anything between 50,000 and 100,000 for the six weeks that the port was closed. We have had hoteliers who basically had no bookings throughout the month of December. One of the starkest statistics from what we have gathered so far is that 54% of the businesses that have replied fear that there are jobs at risk if the port does not return to its two-berth operation, and 95% of the businesses that replied are worried that we are seeing 16 January, the opening of one berth, as celebration day and everything is back to normal. That is far from it because the way that the port operates at the moment, less time between sailings means fewer opportunities for foot passengers going into the town. There is less time between sailings. Yes, a huge percentage are worried that we see 16 January as the be-all and end-all rather than just one step along the journey to getting the port back to normal.

There is a case study as well that has been put together by Menter Môn and the Smart Towns team. There is two parts to it. We have all the statistical data from what BT told us. Footfall in town is up and down, or certainly decreased for the December period. It touched a bit on when people visit but also where they come from and the demographic spend in the town. It does look at some of the anecdotal evidence as well of what businesses have said to us. As Gary mentioned, a 17-bedroomed hotel had few bookings at all during the December period. Guesthouses saw bookings collapse over the December period, and it has had an impact on some of the restaurants, takeaways and pubs. That case study is available and it has been published.

Thank you, gentlemen, for joining us this afternoon. I will ask some questions of Mr Davies. It is to do with the contingency routes that were established in light of the storm. Of course, I have a particular interest in Fishguard and Goodwick, but I appreciate that there were other routes as well. Could you explain how difficult it was to establish these contingency routes in light of Storm Darragh?

There is a ferry berth in Pembroke. There is one in Fishguard. I can only comment on Fishguard because it is a Stena Line port. From the ferry operators and the port owners, the first thing we have to do is to make sure that we can physically get ships in, so there is that element. As a port we have looked already at the robustness of Fishguard and what investment is needed. We are down that path and maybe that is part of the bigger discussion about the robustness of Welsh ports to deal with these in future. The next step for us, again a legacy perhaps of Brexit, is that previously we could move a ship and start a new route. Now we have to have a liaison with HMRC and Border Force about opening up through cargo declaration systems. They have to create temporary routes. That is one aspect. The second aspect is that, because of the border, Border Force needs to make sure that it has sufficient manpower and things in place before we start moving ships. That was a step that we had never had to do before. We have very good co-operation and it was new to many parties, but I have to say that through good dialogue we could adapt fairly quickly. It was a process that was new to all parties and we did get through it. It is something that we have learnt that perhaps we did not appreciate so much previously.

During the period of the closure of Holyhead, if we just look at Fishguard for a moment, how many extra crossings were you able to establish with that temporary route?

Fishguard normally has two crossings a day to Ireland with one ship. We managed to accommodate a Stena Line ferry and an Irish ferry. Both did services to Dublin. We doubled the number of sailings we could accommodate. I do not have the numbers to hand, but the amount of freight went up immeasurably during that period. Again, perhaps lessons learnt for us as to how we better do that and we already have ideas about investments and robustness. Yes, it was a big step change.

That is interesting as well, because you mentioned that Irish Ferries also operated a few crossings out of Fishguard. With all the additional work required to facilitate the additional crossings, did it come to a significant cost, if you are at liberty to say?

Not so much to deal with this current situation. What it did need was considerable good will on behalf of staff, which I am very grateful for. It was coming up to Christmas and we were asking staff to relocate to Birkenhead or Fishguard. People have families and people have other commitments, so there was a lot of good will. For the record, I would like to thank the staff who enabled that. That was probably our biggest initial challenge was to make sure that we had sufficient manpower to make those changes. Then there are other learnings about how we can make the infrastructure in Fishguard better able to cope with these larger ships, to turn them around in time. We have plans and we will move forward with those plans now.

That is very interesting and good to hear as the MP for Fishguard and Goodwick. To all witnesses now, there was a lot of discussion during the period of closure of the Port of Holyhead that haulage companies in particular would have to start making alternative arrangements. As with everything, there are a lot of arrangements that come along with that—the placement of drivers and different routes and what have you. Is there any concern at all that the period of closure might see hauliers either stick to the temporary routes from Fishguard, as an example, or others, and is that a cause of concern when we consider the future of Holyhead? I do not know who would like to go first. I have picked on Mr Davies already, so perhaps Dr Jones.

I would have some concerns. The message I hear from businesses in Ireland is that they want security over those supply routes. Therefore, if it entails additional travel time to get goods to the Republic of Ireland, they are willing to endure that extra time if there is a guarantee. It is that certainty that they are after, and that is what we now need to show with Holyhead port, that the port is fully prepared for such events in the future and we can guarantee transport through the port.

To extol the virtues of Holyhead as a port, it is geographically closest to Ireland. As Ian has mentioned, it makes sense for the ferry operators because they can operate ferries quicker and far more frequently between Dublin and Holyhead. It is important to have that confidence in the port. As Ian has said that the port is secure, I hope we can share that confidence. I do know that the relocating of wagons, for example, did lead to a lot of job losses with an agency that deals with agency drivers. The drivers were based in Holyhead but the wagons then would move to the midlands, and that caused a lot of logistical problems for the agency, which then had to lay off staff just before Christmas. Hopefully, the confidence in the port will bring those wagons back and I am sure anecdotally the wagons are coming back. From an Ynys Môn perspective—and rightly or wrongly, whether it is a fair perception or not—there was a perception that there was not much notice taken of the port being closed. For example, I could not tell you how many times I was asked to make a comment to an Irish newspaper or an interview to RTÉ or talk radio in Ireland, whereas the media coverage in the UK was limited to just Welsh media. Rightly or wrongly, the perception was that it was not taken seriously that the port was closed for such a length of time. You would often walk down Holyhead or speak to businesses in Holyhead and the retort would be, “Can you imagine if this was Folkestone?” or, “Can you imagine if this was Harwich? It would be all over the news”. They are not seeing it on the news so they do not feel it is being taken seriously. I appreciate that transport is devolved, but it is a port that is a piece of national infrastructure. It is of vital importance strategically, not just to Ynys Môn, not just to Wales, it is Ireland, the UK and Europe. It is a European route. Having this Committee meeting today and having this attention put on the port should be able to give that confidence, not only to the people of Holyhead—Ian has already mentioned that the port is secure—but also to businesses, to know that there is a light being shone on what happened and lessons are being learnt, we are moving forward and the port will be secure. I think that was one of the biggest challenges during the port closure—people saying, “They don’t care. Nobody has taken any notice of us”. Hopefully, with this, the moving forward, we can rebuild that confidence in the port.

Gary has basically expressed it. I think it is confidence moving forward. Businesses need confidence. Obviously, it was a big shock to them. The port closed. We did not know for how long to start with. Therefore, it is a bit of a shock to the system. Moving forward, businesses want to be confident that the routes that they are used to the freight and the passengers using in the port infrastructure are sound. To a certain extent, and I appreciate it is difficult for Stena, one of the concerns at the moment is that we will get busy as we move into what we would call basically the tourist season and whether the port infrastructure is up to coping with what will be an increased demand. Certainly, from the hospitality point of view, if the international visitors see that the routes that they have traditionally used are not there, they will look for alternative routes, which will then have a knock-on effect on other businesses in the town.

Mr Davies, I know you will have more direct contact with some of the hauliers that use the port. Have you picked up on any intention or discussion that hauliers are thinking again about their routes and that they are perhaps looking at making use of the temporary routes more permanently?

What was interesting, and it was as we expected, is that once Holyhead reopened it was like a tap opening again. They will switch back because logistically it makes sense and economically it makes sense. It gives something that other ports cannot give. We do not take that for granted—don’t get me wrong—but it is noticeable how quickly those logistics chains switched back to their known suppliers. We are confident but not overly confident in the future. We do not take it for granted, but since we reopened on the 16th those volumes have returned virtually to the levels we would expect them to. The opening on the 16th was of one berth of the two berths, but all the ferry operators are operating the same vessels and the same number of departures now, so that capacity is there in a slightly different format. Before, because of the nature of competition, the ferries operated basically in pairs at the same time, so we had peaks. Now we have, in effect, a ferry departure every three hours. The capacity is there but it is in a different profile than before. Our focus is to get that second berth open, which adds robustness and resilience. That has always been our aim from day one. I will also comment as well that we talk about what has happened and I would also reflect that Stena Line Ports has owned Holyhead for 30 years. We have invested in that time. We will continue to invest. The ferry operators have invested in that time and have grown their businesses. That is what businesses do. They will continue to invest because they all believe in this particular corridor. Brexit was a setback. Things have adjusted. People will rebuild those chains and I think Holyhead has a very bright future.

Before I bring in Llinos Medi, Mr Davies, a couple of times you have mentioned the robustness of Welsh ports. Is that a concern?

We recognise that to move ferries around physically is not an easy thing to do. We recognise that as a port operator. We are taking steps to address it, but there is this ship-shore interface in Fishguard that needs investment and we are taking steps. Hopefully, things do not go wrong, but when they do go wrong, how we are able as a port sector to offer something else to the market that adds to not only Holyhead’s robustness but Wales plc’s robustness, to offer these alternatives I think is also important and needs reflecting as well perhaps.

What support has been provided or should be provided?

None as yet. Not to my knowledge, certainly, talking to the businesses in the town.

For some of the businesses, yes. You have to understand that what might seem like a small loss to some businesses is a huge loss—for a small bed and breakfast with only four bedrooms, even a loss of £2,000 or £2,500 over a busy period is a lot of money. Talking to some of the businesses, it is where they are in their business lifecycle. Some have probably just started, and to suffer a huge hit nine or 10 months into trading makes a big difference to them. It takes some time to claw back that loss. There are knock-on effects in employment with people’s hours being cut. I am not aware of any support as yet, but certainly some businesses have struggled due to the port closure.

Just for clarity, we have never asked for financial support regarding this closure and neither would we. We are a private port operator. It is one of the downsides of running your own business. We took a long-term view and this is the way we will go forward. We have not asked the Welsh Government and we have not asked the UK Government. We have reached out and we have always had a good dialogue with Cardiff when it comes to ports because it is a devolved matter. Throughout this we have had an onward-going dialogue with the ports team in Welsh Government. Obviously, they have questions about things like train passengers and logistics and what Fishguard can do and so forth, so we have that onward-going dialogue. That is as much as our involvement has been on a governmental level on this occasion.

From our point of view as a local authority, I am not aware of any support, although, as Howard said, we have started discussions with local businesses in order to assess the impact so that we can provide evidence of the impact. I have said I will send details of the report along, but just to reiterate, businesses have been impacted in a massive way. Some businesses were looking forward to their first Christmas, only in business nine or 10 months, looking forward to Christmas as that boost to their first year, and then the port closed in that first week in December and their takings fell off the figurative cliff. There are other companies that have been severely impacted because they dealt in the logistics. They dealt in transport and truck services but, to my knowledge, no support has been offered.

Like everybody else here, I am not aware of any support that has been given or what discussions are going on regarding that, which is a surprise. If we look at the other side, at the Republic of Ireland, I know there is discussion there between the Government and the Irish Road Haulage Association on what financial support they need now because of the increased costs that they have incurred because of this. I think what is important is that we look at the different data that we have so that we are able to build up a clear picture of what the impact has been and then appropriate support is given to those businesses. As Gary mentioned, a lot of them are young businesses that do require that support because of what has happened.

Since the announcement we have not had any contact with regards to the taskforce. I have written to the Cabinet Secretary for Transport and North Wales in the Welsh Government, on the 31st, just to welcome the taskforce and to ask what the taskforce will look like moving forward, but as yet I have not had any contact with regard to the taskforce, what it will look at and how it will be composed.

I don’t know if the taskforce is the same, but we did receive a letter yesterday from the Economy, Trade and Rural Affairs Committee wanting to build an evidence picture. That is the only contact we have had in terms of the port closure on businesses.

I have a follow-up question about the support from the UK Government that Llinos raised. I know, Ian, that when the Chair asked at the beginning you mentioned an insurance claim that restricted you from answering certain questions. In terms of the insurance aspect of providing support to those businesses that need it as a result of this event, I would be interested to hear about how businesses have been looking to claim that insurance.

That was probably under business continuity insurance and I am not sure to a certain extent whether it would be classed as an act of—in terms of the impact. It would need looking into. Certainly, none of the businesses have mentioned to me yet they are going to go back to their insurers to claim for the loss of trade.

It is also difficult because, as we have mentioned, a lot of the businesses are impacted because of the closure of the port. It is an indirect impact. Had the roof blown off their business, it is a different matter, isn’t it? It is the port that their business relies on for customers that has been impacted. I am not sure how their insurers would look at that, but each individual business would need to look at that and how their business is insured.

Do you have anything to add, Dr Jones?

I think this will be very difficult. Like was said there, if it was a business that did have the roof blown off, that is a very clear claim. Because of the indirect nature, the indirect impact of the port, I am not too sure how the insurers will view that with small businesses.

Let me go back to Mr Davies. Earlier you mentioned the two berthing incidents, which I know you cannot talk about. Are they directly related to Storm Darragh? Are they separate? In terms of terminal 3, when will that reopen?

All I can reiterate is that it was around the time of Storm Darragh that those incidents occurred. Sorry, what was the other part?

It was about when terminal 3 will reopen.

We shall hopefully have an update. We have engineers working on that currently. We have a timeline coming together. We should be able to update all parties probably in the next two weeks on when we expect T3 to open. At present I do not have that with me, but I will do shortly.

Okay. Thank you very much. That brings our session to a close. I want to thank you all very much for attending this afternoon. It has been very interesting and informative. I will bring it to a close now.