Transport Secretary Grant Shapps was warned about a “new low-cost competitor” which could present “challenges” to P&O Ferries, in a meeting with the boss of the firm’s parent company last year. Newly-released minutes of a meeting between Mr Shapps and the chief executive and chairman of DP World, Sultan Ahmed Bin Sulayem, showed Mr Shapps was told Irish Ferries would pose “challenges in respect of P&O’s operations”.
The Department for Transport said that Mr Shapps was not told about any plans to lay off workers. It is understood the comments by Mr Bin Sulayem were considered open-ended and to not give any clear indication of planned redundancies, or the way in which the company ended up carrying these out.
According to the minutes, from a meeting during a visit to the United Arab Emirates on November 22 last year, Mr Shapps told Mr Bin Sulayem: “I’m aware of the issues relating to P&O. I recognise you will need to make commercial decisions, but please do keep us informed.”
