Wainwright Bros & Co is latest maritime company to berth at Ocean Village Innovation Centre in port city of Southampton

A shipping company spanning three centuries at the port of Southampton is the latest business to berth at a thriving hub for maritime businesses.

Founded in 1889, Wainwright Bros & Co moved into an 824 sq ft office for up to 14 people at Ocean Village Innovation Centre (OVIC) in Southampton.

The business relocated from premises at nearby Bowling Green House, 1 Orchard Place, which dates from the 1840s and where the company had been based since the 1970s.

With 12 staff, Wainwright Bros & Co specialises in ship and port agency services.

Richard Platts, Managing Director at Wainwright Bros & Co, and an elected member of the Institute of Chartered Shipbrokers Federation Council, said: “OVIC, located by the port and within Solent Freeport, is an ideal modern location for Wainwright Bros & Co and is ideally located to represent our clients’ maritime needs throughout the UK.”

The firm also has a separate trading business with Superyacht Agencies, which provides port services, procurement and concierge services to high-end yacht and motor vessel owners.

Stephen Deller, OVIC’s Centre Manager, said: “Wainwright Bros & Co is the latest maritime sector business to berth here at OVIC, with 67 serviced offices, six meeting rooms and complimentary, strategic business support for occupiers.

“It’s fitting that Wainwright Bros & Co, given the firm’s proud port heritage, has joined us – OVIC, on the doorstep of Ocean Village Marina, was originally built on the site of Southampton’s first working dock in the 1840s, the town’s quays and wharves having been overwhelmed by the sheer volume of ship calls.”

There are various maritime sector companies at 30,000 sq ft OVIC, which turned 15 recently.

They include Aros Marine, which made its UK headquarters there last summer – the company, with hundreds of employees, specialises in refit and outfitting projects for cruise ships, expedition vessels, river cruise ships, ferries and yachts.

Others include AW Ship Management, which provides a complete ship management service, tugboats specialist Svitzer Marine, YotSpot, an international jobs board for the yachting industry, and Dockside Global, provider of premium superyacht supplies, refits and procurement services worldwide.

OVIC and the wider port region benefits from the UK’s thriving shipping industry which reportedly employs more than 98,000 people directly, with more than 728,000 jobs across the wider economy, and supports £46.2 billion in gross value added across the broader economy.

Around 100,000 vessels call at UK ports each year, equivalent to one port call every five minutes.

Based on industry figures, shipping supports 140,000-plus UK exporters and facilitates imports for more than 350,000 UK businesses.

Today OVIC is home to 35 businesses and 15 virtual customers.

Support for occupiers includes mentoring, workshops, seminars, programmes and knowledge transfers with the universities of Southampton, Solent and Portsmouth through internships.

One Spa World was the first to move into OVIC in 2010, with 563 sq ft; the business returned last summer to use the meeting rooms.

The centre’s success stories include companies such as DFS Composites, which started as a virtual customer and grew into a global supplier of blade tooling solutions for the wind power industry.

Managed by Oxford Innovation Space on behalf of MDL Marinas Group, OVIC is part of a network of 31 innovation centres across the UK and Ireland, creating thriving ecosystems where businesses collaborate and accelerate growth.

Stephen said: “We are also getting a healthy number of new businesses utilise our pay-as-you-go hot desks.”

ARRIVAL: Founded in 1889, Wainwright Bros & Co has relocated within the port city of Southampton to Ocean Village Innovation Centre (OVIC), a thriving business hub with 67 serviced offices and meeting rooms. Richard Platts is the firm’s Managing Director, pictured on the top of OVIC, overlooking Southampton Water.