Portsmouth: Port director to chair Hampshire business group

The boss of Britain’s best-connected ferry port is to head a Hampshire Chamber members’ group representing business views to government and local authority policymakers.

Mike Sellers, port director of Portsmouth International Port, is the new chair of the chamber’s Portsmouth and District area committee.

Meeting monthly, the voluntary committee is part of a countywide structure that lobbies on behalf of members to inform and influence policy decisions that could affect their businesses.

Sellers became port director in January 2017 having worked for Associated British Ports for more than 14 years.

Born into a family of dock workers in Hull, he previously held senior roles at ports in East Anglia and Humberside.

Sellers said: “The role of the chamber committee is to work on behalf of members of all sizes and types. We aim to understand their challenges and goals, put these on the agendas of local and national decision makers, and help ensure the voice of business is heard loud and clear in the corridors of power.”

Maureen Frost, Hampshire Chamber’s chief executive, said: “Mike has a wealth of experience in business as well as working with local authorities and chambers of commerce. He is an ideal chair of our committee given his enthusiasm for business in and around Portsmouth.”

City council-owned Portsmouth International Port is renowned as Britain’s most successful municipal port following significant investment in its infrastructure and connections with Europe and further afield.