DP World: Ministers had ‘conversation’ to salvage investment after row

Ministers were forced to “have a conversation” with executives from DP World to secure its investment after a senior minister referred to one of its subsidiary P&O Ferries a “rogue operator”, the business secretary has said.

Business secretary Jonathan Reynolds said the investment – which was reportedly put in jeopardy following the scathing criticism of the ferry operator – was going ahead.

Dubai-based DP World, which owns P&O Ferries, also said it is attending an investment summit after getting “the clarity we need” from the government.

Reynolds was asked on Sky News Sunday Morning With Trevor Phillips how close the UK came to losing DP World’s £1bn investment into the expansion of London Gateway Port.

“We’ve had to have a conversation following some of the press reports,” he said.

But he said DP World’s investment is going ahead and the company is attending the International Investment Summit on Monday.

It came after transport secretary Louise Haigh and deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner criticised P&O in an announcement unveiling new worker protections, with Haigh also referring to the firm as a “cowboy operator” in a statement earlier this week.

P&O was criticised by Labour and Tory politicians in 2022 when it sacked 800 British seafarers and replaced them with cheaper, mainly overseas, staff, citing bankruptcy risk.

On Wednesday, Rayner and Haigh introduced legislation to prevent similar actions, with Rayner calling the incident “an outrageous example of manipulation by an employer” in a government press release, which highlighted P&O among “rogue employers”.

And in an ITV interview Haigh went further, saying: “I’ve been boycotting P&O Ferries for two-and-a-half years, and I encourage consumers to do the same.”

A DP World spokesperson said: “Following constructive and positive discussions with the government, we have been given the clarity we need. 

“We look forward to participating in Monday’s International Investment Summit.”

Reynolds insisted it was “not the government’s position” that P&O is a rogue operator when asked on the BBC’s Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg programme.

He said: “It’s now the case that, as we’re in government, we can stop what happened with P&O Ferries happening again.

“Where companies accept we’re not allowing that to happen anymore, and we can work with them on investments into the country, we can have a conversation with them, we will do. 

“It’s not the government’s position to boycott them, but we are clear we do not want this country competing on fire and rehire.”

Asked by Phillips if Haigh had undermined the government, whether she had apologised, and if it was a lesson in behaving differently in government than opposition – he said: “I don’t see it that way… I don’t think anyone in the new government needs that lesson.”