P&O Ferries owner will attend UK investment summit despite scathing criticism from Louise Haigh
The boss of the company that owns P&O Ferries will attend an investment summit in the UK despite the transport secretary’s scathing criticism, which included calls for a boycott of the shipping firm.
Sky News understands Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem, chief executive of Dubai-based DP World, will join the government’s Investment Summit on Monday.
It comes after reports that remarks by Transport Secretary Louise Haigh jeopardised a £1bn investment in the UK from DP World.
The event on Monday is intended to showcase Britain’s appeal to investors and will be attended by the prime minister and Chancellor Rachel Reeves.
DP World’s investment in the port was under review following criticism by Ms Haigh and Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner of its subsidiary P&O Ferries.
In March 2022, P&O Ferries caused huge controversy by sacking 800 British seafarers and replacing them with cheaper, largely foreign workers, a move it said was required to prevent the company from collapsing.
DP World chief executive Sultan Ahmed bin Sulayem. Pic: AP
Announcing new legislation to protect seafarers on Wednesday, Ms Haigh described P&O Ferries as a “rogue operator” and said consumers should boycott the company.
In a press release issued with Ms Rayner, Ms Haigh said P&O Ferries’ actions were “a national scandal” and Ms Rayner described it as “an outrageous example of manipulation by an employer”.
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has said Ms Haigh’s call for a boycott of the ferry firm was “not the view of the government”.
Speaking to BBC Newscast about the situation, he said: “Well, look, I think we’ll resolve that.
“But… I think if you look at the last three or four weeks, you’ve seen £40-plus billion worth of investment.”
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In a press release issued with Ms Rayner, Ms Haigh said P&O’s actions were “a national scandal” and Ms Rayner described it as “an outrageous example of manipulation by an employer”.
Labour MP Liam Byrne has defended Ms Haigh, saying she was “absolutely right” to express her view that the behaviour of P&O Ferries was “completely unacceptable”.
Mr Byrne, who is also the chairman of the House of Commons Business and Trade Committee, said the ferry firm’s past treatment of its workers is “the kind of behaviour that we can’t have in this country”.
File pic: PA
But he added that the government’s Employment Rights Bill would provide a “very clear framework” on how companies can treat workers, which would “bite on” firms like P&O Ferries.
When asked about any movement on the £1bn investment, a senior government source told Sky News: “It’s for companies to announce their investments but warm engagement continues. We look forward to a successful summit, showing that with this Labour government, Britain is open for business.”
A Number 10 spokeswoman said: “Investors are coming to our summit on Monday because they have renewed confidence in Britain, thanks to the stability and seriousness this Labour government brings.”
P&O Ferries, which is owned by a different company to P&O Cruises, operates routes across the Channel, North Sea and from Britain to the island of Ireland.
The UK economy showed strong growth in the first three months of the year, according to official figures.
Gross domestic product (GDP) – the standard measure of an economy’s value – grew 0.7% in the first quarter of 2025, the Office for National Statistics said.
The rise is better than expected. An increase of just 0.6% was anticipated by economists polled by the Reuters news agency.
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It’s significantly better than the three months previous, in which a slight economic expansion of just 0.1% was reported for the final quarter of 2024.
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The ONS also said there was a small amount of growth last month, as GDP expanded 0.2% in March, which similarly beat expectations.
No growth at all had been forecast for the month.
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A large contribution to high GDP growth was an increase in output in the production sector, which rose 1.1%, driven by manufacturing and a 4% increase in water supply, the ONS said.
Also working to push up the GDP figure was 0.7% growth in the biggest part of the UK economy – the services industry.
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Wholesale, retail and computer programming services all performed well in the quarter, as did car leasing and advertising, the ONS said.
It shows the economy was resilient, as the country headed into the global trade war sparked by President Trump’s so-called ‘liberation day’ tariff announcement on 2 April.
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The data is welcome news for a government who have identified growing the economy as its number one priority.
Chancellor Rachel Reeves is taking the figures as a political win, saying the UK economy has grown faster than the US, Canada, France, Italy and Germany.
“Today’s growth figures show the strength and potential of the UK economy, ” she said.
“Up against a backdrop of global uncertainty, we are making the right choices now in the national interest.”
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Such GDP numbers may not continue into April as businesses and consumers were hit with a raft of bill rises, and Mr Trump’s tariffs fired the starting gun on a global trade war.
Last month, water, energy and council tax bills rose across the country while employers faced higher wage costs from the rise in their national insurance contributions and the minimum wage.
But above-inflation wage growth and fading consumer caution could continue to boost the economy.
Foreign state investors would be allowed to hold stakes of up to 15% in British national newspapers, ministers are set to announce amid a two-year battle to resolve an impasse over The Daily Telegraph’s ownership.
Sky News has learnt that the Department for Culture, Media and Sport could announce as soon as Thursday that the new limit is to be imposed following a consultation lasting several months.
The decision to set the ownership threshold at 15% follows an intensive lobbying campaign by newspaper industry executives concerned that a permanent outright ban could cut off a vital source of funding to an already-embattled industry.
It would mean that RedBird IMI, the Abu Dhabi state-backed fund which owns an option to take full ownership of the Telegraph titles, would be able to play a role in the newspapers’ future.
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RedBird Capital, the US-based fund, has already said it is exploring the possibility of taking full control of the Telegraph, while IMI would have – if the status quo had been maintained – forced to relinquish any involvement in the right-leaning broadsheets.
One industry source said they had been told to expect a statement from Lisa Nandy, the culture secretary, or another DCMS minister, this week, with the amendment potentially being made in the form of a statutory instrument.
Other than RedBird, a number of suitors for the Telegraph have expressed interest but struggled to raise the funding for a deal.
The most notable of these has been Dovid Efune, owner of The New York Sun, who has been trying for months to raise the £550m sought by RedBird IMI to recoup its outlay.
Another potential offer from Todd Boehly, the Chelsea Football Club co-owner, and media tycoon David Montgomery, has yet to materialise.
RedBird IMI paid £600m in 2023 to acquire a call option that was intended to convert into ownership of the Telegraph newspapers and The Spectator magazine.
That objective was thwarted by a change in media ownership laws – which banned any form of foreign state ownership – amid an outcry from parliamentarians.
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The Spectator was then sold last year for £100m to Sir Paul Marshall, the hedge fund billionaire, who has installed Lord Gove, the former cabinet minister, as its editor.
The UAE-based IMI, which is controlled by the UAE’s deputy prime minister and ultimate owner of Manchester City Football Club, Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, extended a further £600m to the Barclays to pay off a loan owed to Lloyds Banking Group, with the balance secured against other family-controlled assets.
Other bidders for the Telegraph had included Lord Saatchi, the former advertising mogul, who offered £350m, while Lord Rothermere, the Daily Mail proprietor, pulled out of the bidding last summer amid concerns that he would be blocked on competition grounds.
The Telegraph’s ownership had been left in limbo by a decision taken by Lloyds Banking Group, the principal lender to the Barclay family, to force some of the newspapers’ related corporate entities into a form of insolvency proceedings.
The newspaper auction is being run by Raine Group and Robey Warshaw.
The DCMS declined to comment.
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