Isle of Man Maritime Group hailed as a great success at the International for Festival Business

On the 11th and 12th June 2014, the Isle of Man Maritime Group hosted two days of maritime themed events for the International Festival for Business (‘IFB’) in Liverpool, as part of the Maritime, Logistics and Energy week. The Festival, which was opened by Prime Minister David Cameron on Monday 9th June, is a six week long business programme aimed at promoting business in the North West and globally, to accelerate economic growth.

The Isle of Man Maritime Group, compromising of thirteen forward thinking Isle of Man based maritime businesses and organisations, entertained guests on board the prestigious and historic Kathleen and May tall ship, in the scenic Canning Dock, for a series of informal networking sessions and evening receptions – aptly titled ‘Cocktails in the Sails’ and ‘Wine on the Waves’. Guests enjoyed a magnificent open deck hog roast in the sunshine, accompanied by live music by the Manx band Barrule, with Manx cheese and seafood. The event also included a presentation from the Isle of Man SuperYacht Forum, entitled, ‘Managing some of the World’s Most Iconic and Valuable Assets’.

The aim of the events was to promote the Isle of Man as an international Maritime Centre of Excellence, to showcase the wide range of maritime and related services that the Isle of Man has to offer for global yachting and shipping, and to explore shared business opportunities.
Attendance to the Groups events across the two days surpassed expectations and has been highly commended by both guests and the IFB organisers.

Bruce McGregor, Director of Group member PDMS Maritime commented, “The turnout for our events was spectacular. The Kathleen and May tall ship could not have been a better venue for our maritime themed events and we were blessed with fantastic weather. The event really hit the mark in showcasing the Isle of Man’s maritime sector at this international festival”

The Isle of Man has a long established history in the shipping sector and, more recently, the emergence of its super yacht industry has further enhanced the Island’s profile in the global maritime sector. Not only is it home to one of the best quality ship registries in the world, but also features a wealth of maritime related services ranging from accountancy, fiduciary, banking and wealth services, through to crew and ship management, payroll and software. The Isle of Man Maritime Group was formed to help promote the Isle of Man as a hub of global maritime services –and its members have offices throughout the world with expertise far beyond the Isle of Man and the UK.

Members of the Isle of Man Maritime group include: Baker Tilly; Bernhard Schulte Shipmanagement; Bibby Ship Management; Bibby Ship Travel; Boston Limited; Cayman National Bank and Trust Company (Isle of Man) Limited; Döhle; ICM Group; i-Bos Ltd; Isle of Man Ship Registry; Isle of Man Shipping Association; the Isle of Man SuperYacht Forum; KPMG and PDMS. The Group maintains close communications with the Isle of Man Government’s Department of Economic Development (DED), with respect to complementary activities.
Source: Isle of Man Maritime Group