Welcome to the Haven Gateways Website

The five Haven ports of Felixstowe, Harwich International, Harwich Navyard, Ipswich and Mistley represent the single most important cluster of ports in the UK. Based on their central role as hubs and generators of economic activity, the Haven Gateway Partnership provides a framework within which its partner organisations - from the private and public sectors - can work together to promote economic opportunities and secure the future prosperity of the region.

The Haven Gateway 'sub-region' is one of the fastest growing areas of Britain, significant not only within the country, but also the European Union. Together the Haven ports represent the single most important grouping in the UK. Commerce has flourished given the area's strategic position as a gateway for the British Isles, the European mainland and the wider world.

Ipswich, Colchester and the Haven ports themselves offer an impressive range of logistics and marine services, together with specialists from ship agents and insurers, to software, engineering and legal firms. Harwich International is a multipurpose port and the UK's second busiest ferry terminal, with nearly two million ferry and cruise passengers every year.

The area offers excellent communications, with the A12 and the A14 dual carriageway highways to London and the South, the Midlands and the North. By rail, efficient container services run to multiple inland destinations.

The region boasts historic and bustling towns and peaceful countryside. Popular seaside resorts and quiet coasts are also a draw, with attractions of national and international importance. It is also one of the UK's most popular sailing areas. These all make for a high quality of life for residents, and attract many visitors.