As a town it became synonymous with bad news. Even its name sounds, well, grim.
It didn’t help that Grimsby had a film named after it - and not for a good reason. Its fishing industry had collapsed, businesses closed and unemployment spiralled; all preludes to the tumbleweed that subsequently followed drivers as they headed along the main road past derelict shops, pubs and clubs on their way to neighbouring Cleethorpes.
There are signs of recovery though and, if they come to fruition in the form of offshore wind farms – which there is every indication they will – they should be long-term as Grimsby finds itself at the forefront of the battle against climate change.
The town, and some of its custodians, is using a similar model to AESSEAL when it comes to looking to the future – sustainability, community, and continuous improvement.
The renewable energy sector has become a cornerstone of the area’s economy, generating over 12,000 jobs and £1.2 billion annually for Greater Lincolnshire.
Grimsby now serves as the central Operations and Maintenance (O&M) hub for major energy companies such as Ørsted, Siemens, and RWE, facilitating 80 per cent of North Sea power zones within 12 hours' steaming time. Its port features deep-water facilities at the Royal Docks and, with plans for continued expansion, Grimsby is pivotal in the UK's goal of tripling offshore wind capacity by 2030.
The O&M facility also houses RWE’s new UK centralised control room, set up to provide 24/7 monitoring of the company’s UK offshore wind farms and able to supply marine coordination, turbine operations, alarm management, high voltage monitoring and Emergency Response services.
Almost 700 people now work across Ørsted’s East Coast operations and Humberside Airport, with around 50 per cent employed as wind turbine technicians carrying out world-class offshore operations and maintenance. Three-quarters of the team live within an hour of the town, showing just how deeply the industry is rooted in the local community.
Alongside clean energy, jobs and skills, Ørsted continues to invest heavily in the area and over the past ten years its East Coast Community Fund has awarded more than £4 million to almost 300 projects across coastal Yorkshire and Lincolnshire.
Head of Generation UK East at Ørsted, Darren Ramshaw, said: “Our operations are key to the energy transition, but our support doesn't stop there. We have embedded ourselves in the local community, from school visits to our East Coast Community Benefit Fund to donating £1 million to Horizon Youth Zone. We’re committed to investing in local people, creating opportunities, and supporting the communities we serve.”
A decade ago, after visiting to research his film Grimsby, writer Sacha Baron Cohen said: "Huge swathes of the town are derelict. You have a choice if you’re a dad, you can either go on the dole and try to get as much money as you can, or you can leave your family and try find work in another city down south. The vilification of those people is completely unjust. That was the real eye opener.”
Ten years on and, through a policy rooted in sustainability, community, and continuous improvement, the winds of change finally appear to be blowing in the opposite direction for Grimsby.
