Denholm Port Services Extends North Sea Coverage with Orkney Acquisition

Denholm Port Services Limited, the leading UK port agency provider, is pleased to announce it has acquired the ship agency services of Orkney-based John Jolly Limited. The acquisition expands Denholm Port Services’ UK port presence to directly support its clients’ vessels when they call at the Orkney Islands.

Based in Kirkwall, John Jolly has been operating in Orkney since 1902. Its ship agency service supports a range of vessels, including cruise ships, oil and gas tankers, bulk and general cargo ships and specialist project vessels, complementing the multi-vessel capabilities of Denholm Port Services. John Jolly will continue to operate as an independently-owned company, providing stevedoring services from the Orkney islands.

President and Managing Director of Denholm Port Services, John Watt, said: “I am delighted that Denholm Port Services has acquired the ship agency services of John Jolly. We support clients’ vessels extensively throughout UK ports and, having recently opened a port agency office in Lerwick in the Shetland Isles, this latest acquisition extends our North Sea port coverage even further.”

Director of John Jolly, Steven Spence, commented: “John Jolly and Denholm Port Services have been working together in the flourishing cruise ship market in Orkney for a number of years. As a highly skilled and reliable agency business, it makes sense that Denholm Port Services supports clients’ vessels in Orkney directly, enabling John Jolly to focus on stevedoring services. John Jolly has always been a family business, and there was a particular appeal in selling our ship agency service arm to Denholm Port Services, who is itself part of a larger family-run group.”

Denholm Port Services is one of the UK’s leading ship agency businesses. Serving all major UK ports, the company specialises in providing port agency and cargo management services to a wide range of clients. The acquisition of John Jolly’s ship agency services was completed on 1st May 2019.