The Port of Felixstowe said it hosted Department for Transport Permanent Secretary Jo Shanmugalingam and colleagues on 2 July 2026 for a visit that outlined the port’s operational priorities and investments.
Robert Ashton, the port’s Chief Operating Officer, led the delegation through a programme of briefings and a live demonstration of new technologies in the working estate.
Port of Felixstowe officials provided an overview of current operations and set out future ambitions, with an emphasis on private investment in infrastructure, technology, connectivity and skills, the port said.
Delegates discussed the role ports play in national resilience, productivity and economic growth, and explored requirements across transport, energy and digital infrastructure to support those objectives.
The visit included a demonstration of autonomous trucks and other advanced technologies in the port’s live operational environment, giving officials first hand exposure to systems planned or in use at the terminal, according to the announcement.
Decarbonisation, future energy needs and the transition to more sustainable logistics were also addressed during the visit as part of a wider conversation about the sector’s long term requirements, the port added.
Investment and capability
Port of Felixstowe described private funding for infrastructure and digital connectivity as central to its ambitions, and said skills development would form a complementary strand of those investments.
Officials underlined that technology deployment is being shown and assessed within active operations so policymakers can see how systems perform in practice, rather than only in simulated settings.
Resilience and infrastructure needs
Discussions covered how ports contribute to national resilience and productivity, with participants looking at the interdependence of transport, energy and digital networks and the demands those links place on future planning.
Port representatives emphasised that energy requirements and decarbonisation pathways are a key part of planning conversations with government, reflecting the need to align logistics capability with evolving energy systems.
The delegation was able to observe emerging technology in situ and to question port management on how investment and operational change are being sequenced, the port said.
The visit at Felixstowe offered the Department for Transport’s senior officials direct sight of both present operations and planned initiatives intended to support the port’s stated ambitions for connectivity, capability and sustainability.