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GRIMSBY’S growing relationship with world-leading offshore wind developer Dong Energy has been toasted at a major supply chain event in the town.

Around 200 people heard the Danish giant and a host of tier one contractors set out their requirements to deliver the world-leading Hornsea Project One offshore wind farm from North East Lincolnshire.

It was the first occasion the key partners had publicly come together since September’s announcement that the UK’s largest operations and maintenance hub will be established in Grimsby, as part of Dong’s £6 billion commitment to the Humber.

Plans will be formalised early next year.

Westermost Rough, Race Bank and the Hornsea zones will be controlled from beneath the iconic Dock Tower with a major expansion of the present base.

Welcoming business representatives to Grimsby Town Hall, North East Lincolnshire Council chief executive Rob Walsh described the town as a the “heartbeat of the Energy Estuary”.

He said: “For me this is more than a supply chain event, a lot more. It symbolises a major vote of confidence in this town and this borough, and it confirms something very significant is a happening on our doorstep that will have a long term positive impact.

“Confidence is built by setting out a very clear ambition for growth and prosperity. We are creating the conditions for economic growth with local benefits, and I emphasise local, as that is so important to this sector.

“We have something tangibly different now. Something that sets us apart from the pack, something fantastic and brand spanking new. It is something that can be identified with Great Grimsby, it is very important to our future, to our profile and credibility.

“In a few years time when we look back we will recall the recent decision made by Dong Energy as a seminal moment. It has helped realise aspiration and created opportunities for the many, not the few.”

Mr Walsh followed NELC leader Ray Oxby to the lectern. He told of the pride of the step change in offshore wind being played out in the borough, and the fact that 90 per cent of the permanent Dong employees working on the Royal Dock site are now local.

Cllr Oxby said: “Grimsby was once the biggest fishing port in the UK. Now it is transforming and becoming the port for offshore wind, supporting construction and the longer term operations and maintenance of the offshore wind farms.

“Dong Energy is playing a role in lifting the prosperity of our area. This is an exciting time with lots of investment. It was a brilliant announcement recently that Port of Grimsby is to be the hub for all these projects, the largest operations and maintenance facility in the UK. We are privileged to be working with Dong in such a partnership, and I am encouraged to see so many new and high level jobs being created in this area. The effect permeates through the whole community.”