Marine sector

Portsmouth has a rich marine heritage that spans centuries, largely due to its role as Britain’s premier naval base.

Marine sector overview

The marine sector includes:

defence marine
recreational marine
transport marine
fisheries marine

Over 7,000 people work in 250 organisations in the city and these figures increase to 13,300 and 800 respectively for the city region. Companies currently based in Portsmouth include BAE Systems, Brittany Ferries, McMurdo, Premier Marinas, QinetiQ, Rolls-Royce, Sunsail and Wightlink.

These findings were identified in the Marine Cluster Validation Study (2005) by the University of Portsmouth as part of the City Growth Portsmouth Strategy.

Marine support organisations

Maritime UK Solent – champions maritime growth across the Solent and represents the region at UK and international trade events.

Marine South East – a business-led consortium supporting marine businesses across the South East region. It offers networking events, a database of businesses, an information library, and sector news and updates.

The Department for Business and Trade (DBT) – helps UK marine companies export and grow internationally. Support includes export codes and tariffs, funding and finance advice, overseas market access.

British Marine Federation (BMF)

BMF is country-wide trade association for the British boating industry. It promotes the marine industry and its products.

Services include: technical advice, health & safety guidance, legal service statistics & market research, training services and courses and more. Find out more on the British Marine Federation website.