Major Employers
Discover Dover. With its strategic location, unrivalled transport connections, significant funding and incentives, and an enviable coastal lifestyle, its not surprising that the district is home to some of the UK’s leading businesses in shipping, manufacturing, bio-technology and life sciences.
Shipping & Port Logistics
Port of Dover
The busiest international roll-on roll-off ferry port in the UK, the Port handles £144bn of trade in goods and 33% of the UK’s trade with the EU, supporting businesses across the nation.
Dover is also the UK’s second busiest cruise port, welcoming over 25 cruise lines and 200,000 guests each year and has a marina and property business primed to benefit from a new waterfront.
With a cargo business handling fresh produce, containers, project cargo, general cargo, grain and Ro-Ro traffic operating from a state-of-the-art terminal next to the world’s busiest shipping lane and on the quickest sea route to Europe, Dover is building for the future.
With a focus on sustainability the Port of Dover lies at the heart of international trade and tourism, and contributing value as a key gateway, employer, business and community partner.
The Port of Dover supports over 22,000 jobs in the local economy.
P&O Ferries
With its headquarters in Dover, P&O Ferries is one of Europe’s largest ferry operators with the most comprehensive route network and the most frequent passenger and freight services from the UK to the Continent. With a fleet of over 20 ships, P&O Ferries operates on nine routes linking the UK with ports in Belgium, France, Holland, and Ireland. Each year, P&O Ferries carries close to nine million passengers, two million freight units, and 1.7 million tourist vehicles.
One of the most famous names in shipping, P&O Ferries is owned by DPWorld. The company recently invested €360 million in the two largest ferries ever to operate from Dover to Calais at 49,000 tonnes. P&O Ferries employs 1,100 people at its headquarters in Dover and onboard its fleet of six ships on the premier Dover to Calais route.
DFDS Seaways
DFDS Seaways operates one of the most comprehensive shipping networks in Northern Europe covering 20 countries and 42 destinations with a fleet of 51 ships. From Dover, DFDS Seaways operates high frequency roll-on/roll-off passenger and freight shipping services to both Calais and Dunkerque with up to 22 daily return departures. The company operates a fleet of five ships from Dover, including three purpose-built 35,923 tonne vessels for the Dunkerque service.
Irish Ferries
Irish Ferries launched their Dover-Calais route in 2021 and provide 10 crossings a day. This adds to their service between Britain and the Republic of Ireland where they are the market leader for freight and passengers.
George Hammond PLC
George Hammond has been at the forefront of shipping activities in the English Channel since it was established in 1767. George Hammond is a Lloyd’s sub-Agent for Kent. Still a private company with its head office in Dover, the company employs 250 people. The company’s Port & Maritime Services division is ISO 9001-2000 accredited.
George Hammond is responsible for ship’s agency, stevedoring and freight forwarding at the Dover Cargo Terminal, Port of Dover. Handling weekly refrigerated and container shipments from West Africa and Central America, George Hammond has established Dover as one of the UK’s leading hubs for the year-round import of fresh produce. The company also offers ship’s agency to the increasing number of cruise ships that visit Dover, and pilotage and marine services to ship’s transiting the English Channel and other south east ports.
George Hammond is one of the leading independent petrol retailers in the South East, and operates seven BP-branded retail sites in Kent.
SMS Group
SMS Group is the UK’s leading independent ship repair specialist. The company is at the forefront of the specialised marine engineering industry and has a world-wide reputation for its expertise in structural repairs and renewals, as well as mechanical repairs both above and below the waterline. Based in Dover, SMS Group operates from Seven sites across the UK as well as providing specialist teams to shipping operators worldwide.
C.G. Hibbert
C.G. Hibbert is a leading supplier of branded spirits, wines and tax-free products to ferry and cruise ship operators, airlines and airports, military and diplomatic services. Established in 1767, the company has a proud history even supplying beer for the Titanic!
The company relocated to Dover in 1979 and trades from a purpose-built office and warehouse facility overlooking the English Channel.
Viking Maritime
Based in a £6.5 million state-of-the-art Maritime Skills Academy, close to Europe’s busiest passenger port, Viking Maritime has been supplying officers and crew to ship owners and operators worldwide since 1988. The company specialises in recruiting STCW certified officers and crew, as well as hospitality and guest services staff to some of the world’s most prestigious cruise lines and luxury yacht operators. The company provides a full-service including recruitment, training, travel and operational needs of its international clients. The skills academy includes a full, weather effects pool for survival training, bridge and engine room simulators, and an extensive range of conference and training facilities - www.maritimeskillsacademy.com
Manufacturing
Megger Ltd
Megger designs and manufactures portable electrical test equipment. Established in the late 1800s, the company has been designing and making test and measurement instruments that perform electrical measurements for preventative maintenance, troubleshooting and commissioning for decades.
The Group headquarters are in Dover with five further manufacturing facilities in the USA, Germany and Sweden. The company has 25 sales offices world-wide and sells both directly and through an extensive network of highly skilled distributors. Customers include the Utilities (generation, transmission and distribution), Industrial companies, as well as large and small contractors.
Pusterla 1880 (London Fancy Box)
Pusterla 1880 is one of the premier packaging suppliers in the European luxury goods and multimedia markets.
The company is a leading designer of rigid packaging for the drinks, perfumery and cosmetics, entertainment and publishing industries. Their manufacturing facility in Dover can produce up to 150,000 packs per day.
The company also provides contract packing services, with total supply chain and fulfillment services. London Fancy Box was the first presentation box producer to achieve BS 5750 and ISO 9001-208 approval.
Multipanel UK Ltd
Mutlipanel UK relocated their manufacturing operation from China back to the UK in 2014, investing £12 million in a 10,000m² purpose-built site in Dover. The company’s state-of-the-art production line uses the most advanced technology in the industry to create a wide range of design display solutions, including sign making and out of home media, shop fitting, internal partioning, point-of-sale material, transport and industrial applications, and exhibition stand design.
The company is certified to ISO9001:2008 quality standard and ISO14001:2004 environmental standard. With products exported worldwide, Dover’s excellent transport links with the UK and Europe was a key determinant in the decision to relocate. Multipanel Case Study.
Gatic
Established in 1928 and with its operating office in Dover, Gatic is one of the world’s leading manufacturers of engineered access covers and surface water drainage systems to the construction, transport and utility markets. Gatic developed its first access cover for Shell in 1928, and the company has gone on to develop specially manufactured access covers for the most demanding of environments. Its products are used at over 100 air and sea ports worldwide. A major exporter, over half the company’s sales are from overseas. Gatic is part of Alumasc Group plc.
Bio-Technology & Life Sciences
Pfizer Ltd.
Pfizer is one of the world’s largest research-based pharmaceutical companies. It has a long history of operating in Sandwich, Kent with a number of its most famous brands discovered in the district. It remains a key tenant at Discovery Park science campus.
Asymchem
Asymchem Laboratories is a global pharmaceutical business that arrived at Discovery Park in August 2024, selecting the science campus for its first R&D and manufacturing facility outside China and the United States.
It employs 70 team members on-site in both the R&D labs and the API pilot plant. Additional hires are planned through to the end of the year as the pilot plant ramps up operations.
Peakdale Chemistry Services Ltd.
Peakdale Chemistry Services is a leading provider of medicinal chemistry and chemistry services to the pharmaceutical, bio-tech and associated industries. A subsidiary of Peakdale Molecular, they were the first non-Pfizer business to relocate to Discovery Park, Sandwich. Operating from state-of-the-art laboratories, Peakdale offers a full complement of chemistry services from research, synthesis, process development and scale-up projects. Over 85% of Peakdale’s employees are PhD-level scientists.
Genea Biomedx
Genea Biomedx is an IVF technology business, formed in 2013 by Genea, one of the world’s leading fertility treatment experts. Based in Australia, the company has over 26 years experience in infertility R&D and treatment.
Genea Biomedx chose the Discovery Park Enterprise Zone as its Northern Hemisphere base for manufacturing and distribution due to the high standard of the laboratory facilities, and its excellent location for targeting new markets in Europe, the US and Asia.
AlgaeCytes Ltd
From its base at the Discovery Park Enterprise Zone, AlgaeCytes is developing and commercialising the next generation of bioactive ingredients for the nutraceutical and pharmaceutical markets. In particular, the company is working on the production of Omega 3 oils and proteins from marine algae by recycling carbon dioxide and water.
Currently up to 90% of the world’s production of Omega 3 oils is produced from oily fish. With rising demand from the pharamaceutical and food production industries clinical trials confirm the health benefits of Omega 3, AlgaeCytes is at the forefront of the development of sustainable production methods.