Released on: July 9, 2008, 3:24 am

Press Release Author: SARAH CHASE

Industry: Transportation & Logistics

Press Release Summary: The ship has come in for Tees Valley business PD Ports,
Teesport after it scooped a prestigious award for effectively training and
developing its employees.

Press Release Body: London, 8 July 2008 - The ship has come in for Tees Valley
business PD Ports, Teesport after it scooped a prestigious award for effectively
training and developing its employees.

The port operations company, which oversees the third largest UK port, has been
crowned 'Large Employer of the Year' at the Learning and Skills Council (LSC) North
East's Celebration of Learning and Skills (CoLaS) awards 2008.

Since embarking on a major employee development programme at Teesport in 2004, PD
Ports has overcome a significant shortfall in skills and knowledge within the
organisation.

With the help of the Train to Gain service, the company's training programme has
included health and safety National Vocational Qualifications (NVQs ) at Level 2 for
all staff, as well as NVQs in Port Operations and Supervisory Management for the
Ports Industry and a bespoke leadership and team building programme that has been
conducted for more than 200 staff in leadership roles.

On top of that the organisation has re-launched its Engineering Apprenticeship
programme, is collaborating with the University of Teesside to develop a
port-related foundation degree and is working with local schools and colleges to
raise awareness of careers in the port industry.

The ambitious training programme has already resulted in a number of measurable
business benefits. These include improvements in productivity, efficiency and staff
motivation, a reduction in an already low number of accidents and a clear positive
impact on the levels of service for its customers.

The re-launched Engineering Apprenticeship programme has benefited 22 employees, who
have developed industry specific skills and are helping PD Ports to avoid future
skill shortages.

To demonstrate the organisation's ongoing commitment to the training and development
of its employees, PD Ports has recently made the Skills Pledge, which is a
government initiative driven in the region by LSC North East.

Aimed at encouraging employers to support all employees to develop their basic
skills, including literacy and numeracy and work towards relevant, valuable
qualifications, the Skills Pledge is a voluntary, public commitment by the
leadership of a company or organisation.

The CoLaS Awards highlight the often unrecognised achievements of individuals and
employers who work 'behind-the-scenes' for their own personal development or to
improve the skills of others.

The Large Employer of the Year award, sponsored by Gateshead College, was one of
just twelve awards up for grabs. Representatives from PD Ports were joined by over
1,200 other invited guests to celebrate North East learning and skills achievements
with an Oscar-style ceremony and spectacular local entertainment at the Sage
Gateshead.

Talking of the company's achievements, Russ McCallion, group human resources
director, PD Ports, said: "We are delighted to have been recognised for our
commitment to the continued training and development of our employees. The award is
also a clear reflection of the way in which our employees have embraced their
involvement in that training and development in paving the way for further
performance improvement.

"The port is on the cusp of a renaissance, which will hopefully create a significant
number of new jobs which will have a positive impact on the Tees Valley and the
North East as a whole. Ensuring that our employees have the right skills to do
their job and have the opportunity to develop new ones to progress their careers is
fundamental to the company\'s continued success."

Chris Roberts, regional director, LSC North East, said: "Large organisations have a
significant job to do in updating the skills of their workforce on an ongoing basis.
This includes people who have been within an organisation for years and those
coming into an industry for the first time. As PD Ports proves, taking a
company-wide approach to training and development brings significant business
benefits by making sure that the right skills are in place to take advantage of
current and future business opportunities."

The full list of winners, sponsors and photography from the night are available by
visiting www.lsc.gov.uk/colas08


####
Notes to Editors: July 2008

. PD Ports Limited was formed following the successful takeover of PD Ports plc by
Babcock and Brown Infrastructure (ASX: BBI) in February 2006.
. PD Ports is a high performing specialist ports business offering a wide variety of
supply chain services to improve customers' international product and material
movements into and out of - as well as within - the UK.

. PD Ports employs over 1350 members of staff, and generates an annual turnover of
over £130 million from 30 UK locations.

. PD Ports operates throughout the UK from bases at many key ports and logistics
centres.

. The 3 business interests of PD Ports are:
o Port Operations- this includes:
 Teesport: one of the top 3 UK ports, with flows of containers, bulk
traffics and finished cars, handling 50 million tonnes of throughput p.a.
 The Northern Gateway Container Terminal: a major new deep sea container
terminal planned at Teesport on the South side of the River Tees. The £300+ million
development will have a capacity of 1.5 million TEU (twenty foot equivalent unit)
and is anticipated to deliver over 5,500 jobs to the Tees Valley, opening in 2011.
Please visit www.thenortherngateway.co.uk
 Portcentric Logistics: a new concept promoted by PD Ports for locating the
storage and distribution of imported goods close to the point of arrival at a UK
port. This concept avoids the slow handling and return of empty containers as well
as eradicating unnecessary UK road mileage, which occurs when delivering to a
traditional inland import centre, such as in the Midlands. In 2006 ASDA Wal*Mart
opened a 350,000 sq ft import centre at Teesport and has saved more than 2 million
road miles by adopting the portcentric concept. Tesco is also building a 1.2 sq ft
import centre at Teesport to open in 2009.
 Humber & Small Ports: owners and/or operators of ports on the Humber
estuary, Rivers Trent and Ouse, and at Medina Wharf, Isle of Wight. Service
offerings include ship's agency, chartering and stevedoring services.
 Logistics: PD Logistics offers warehousing and distribution services at 15
UK locations throughout the North East, Humberside & East Anglia, including at
Felixstowe. Please visit www.pdlogistics.com
o Conservancy - this includes:
 Management of river traffic for the ports of Tees and Hartlepool, ensuring
safe navigation and maintaining the required channel depth.
o Property- this includes:
 Revenue and income from property and facilities owned by PD Ports and used
by third party clients on long term leases.
 Land that is not utilised for operational purposes and forms part of the
potential for development.
 The redevelopment of part (133 hectares) of Hartlepool docks known as
Victoria Harbour.

See also www.pdports.co.uk

For more information, please contact:

Sarah A. Chase
Head of PR for Image Line Communications

Image Line Communications Ltd

1A Zetland House, 5-25 Scrutton Street, London EC2A 4HJ

tel +44 (0)20 7689 9009
fax +44 (0)20 7689 8008
mobile +44 (0)75 0300 1499
email pr@imageline.co.uk
www imageline.co.uk



Web Site: http://www.pdports.co.uk

Contact Details: tel +44 (0)20 7689 9009
fax +44 (0)20 7689 8008
mobile +44 (0)75 0300 1499
email pr@imageline.co.uk
www imageline.co.uk