Associated British Ports  the UK’s leading ports group, has  announced changes in its senior commercial team to further strengthen its focus on delivering value for customers and boost the successful growth of its Humber and Wales and Short Sea Ports business regions.

As part of the move, ABP has appointed Lex Hanham as Head of Commercial for Wales and Short Sea Ports (WSSP), where she will be leading the commercial team responsible for commercial delivery across 16 of ABP’s 21 ports. She will be taking over the helm from Paul Litten, who has been appointed as Head of Commercial for ABP’s Humber region, made up of 4 ports that collectively provide the UK’s largest gateway for trade with the world by volume.

Paul, who has worked for ABP for nearly ten years, brings experience from a whole career in commercial and customer service roles. He has a proven track record of developing innovative solutions for customers’ needs, building strong, trust-based relationships with customers and achieving leading customer satisfaction levels.

Paul Litten, Head of Commercial for ABP’s Humber region, said: “I’m thrilled to be leading the commercial team serving customers using ABP’s four Humber ports. These ports are a UK leader with the capacity and capabilities they offer making them the number one choice for customers regionally and nationally. I’m looking forward to continuing to build my engagement with customers and getting out the message of what ABP’s Humber ports can offer.”

Lex has worked in a number of commercially focused roles at ABP, including across property, project management and commercial development during her 17 years’ experience in maritime. She takes up the Head of Commercial role from WSSP having served as Business Development Manager across ABP’s locations, spearheading projects to accelerate the UK’s clean energy transition. Prior to this, Lex was a senior figure in ABP’s Southampton commercial team, where she worked closely with customers across dry bulks, project cargo, automotive, containerised freight, rail and other key sectors.

Lex Hanham, Head of Commercial, Wales and Short Sea Ports, said: “I am delighted to lead a team of talented commercial colleagues across England, Scotland and Wales. With this fantastic geographical footprint, and a variety of specialisms across our ports, we are able to offer customers a wealth of opportunities as well as the flexible solutions they need.”

“I am looking forward to drawing on my experience of working with a huge variety of customers, not just in freight and logistics but also across energy transition-related sectors and startups to help strengthen existing customer relationships and grow our appeal to customers of the future.”

Julian Walker, ABP’s Chief Commercial Officer and Regional Director for Wales and Short Sea Ports, said: “I would like to congratulate both Lex and Paul on their appointment to these critical roles which are instrumental in ABP delivering its twin missions of keeping Britain trading and Enabling the Energy Transition.

“Together, they bring a wealth of experience and a commitment to place customers at the heart of everything we do. At ABP, our ports play a critical role in the UK’s sustainable economic growth, and we recognise that responding to and anticipating the needs of the customer is essential to help achieving this. Lex and Paul are the right people in the right roles to make this happen and are eager to speak to existing and new customers about how ABP’s ports should be their ports of choice.”