24 Mar POOLE HARBOUR COMMISSIONERS HOLDS STAKEHOLDERS ANNUAL OPEN EVENING
Poole Harbour Commissioners (PHC) welcomed around 250 guests to its annual Open Evening last night.
The evening opened with remarks from Chair, Lee Hardy OBE.
Chief Executive Captain Brian Murphy then delivered a comprehensive overview of the Port’s activities over the past year, covering key strategic projects, and a financial update. Key highlights from the presentation included progress on the Marine Centre Regeneration Project, reinstatement of the Port Rail Link and the continued success of PHC’s marinas, which are now the most awarded in Europe. This was then followed by a Q&A panel session with PHC’s Senior Executive Team: Chief Executive Officer, Harbour Master, Harbour Engineer and Chief Financial Officer.
The PHC presentation was followed by our guest speaker Layla Bennett, founder of Hawksdrift Limited, a specialist bird management company that has supported PHC for over ten years. The Open Evening attendees were introduced to two special members of the Hawksdrift family, namely Jack and Saxon, two Harris Hawks that expertly performed an impressive in-flight display within our events lounge. Layla told the story of PHC employees successfully recovering Saxon, in 2025, from Sandbanks when he decided to take a short voyage on the Brittany Ferries Voyager.
Captain Brian Murphy, PHC’s Chief Executive, said:
“Events like this are incredibly important to maintain the positive harbour community spirit that develops over many decades. Essential when operating and managing a major Trust Port for the leisure and commercial community it serves. We are proud to operate in a way that is transparent, responsible and rooted in the community, and it was a pleasure to welcome so many important people to hear, first hand, the progress we are making despite economical and geopolitical challenges.”