Leadership

Frans Calje

Chief Executive Officer

Frans joined PD Ports in May 2008 as Key Projects Director and member of the Senior Executive Team.

Having started his career at the Port of Rotterdam, Frans brings considerable experience in the development of container terminals throughout Europe and in the USA, gained during a very progressive career within APM Terminals.

As Senior Project Manager Business Development for APM Terminals International, he led the $100 million JV Project between APMT and CMA/CGM to deliver a 30 year concession for the port of Mobile, Alabama. In his last role as General Manager Project Implementation and Business Development, amongst other notable achievements Frans had been instrumental in the successful APMT bid for the first concession at the new Rotterdam Maasvlakte 2 development.

Frans was appointed Chief Executive Officer of PD Ports in 2017.

Since then, Frans has been instrumental in the successful strategic transformation of Teesport’s container platform and has also led the Company to become one of the UK’s largest and most progressive port groups, recognised internationally as a benchmark for the rest of the ports industry.

In 2022, Frans’ services to international trade and the UK economy were recognised with an OBE in the late Queen Elizabeth II’s birthday honours as well as earning him the title of the Tees Valley’s most inspirational business leader, as voted for by peers in the business community.

Jerry Hopkinson

Executive Chairman

In 2023, Jerry was announced as Executive Chairman for PD Ports after holding his previous role of Chief Operating Officer and Vice Chairman since March 2017.

Having been employed at Board level by PD Ports and its predecessors for over 30 years, Jerry has been a key tactical and strategic decision maker throughout his career.

To date, Jerry has successfully driven PD Ports through a number of significant milestones including, the transformational development of container operations on the Humber and Teesside, underpinned by the progression of portcentric logistics. He has also been instrumental in the establishment of an extensive footprint of activity in the offshore energy sector; the “bounce back” of the business in the wake of the closure of SSI and the positive negotiation and closeout of a number of major international investment contracts including the world’s largest biomass power station, MGT.

Most recently, Jerry has spearheaded a collaborative consultation process to support the Tees Valley Combined Authority with the region’s Freeport bid, as part of PD Ports’ Statutory Harbour Authority obligations.

Liz Law

Chief Financial Officer

Liz joined PD Ports as Chief Financial Officer in 2023.

In her role at PD Ports, Liz is responsible for leading the finance, legal and insurance functions across the company. Liz began her career at PwC and after 11 years in professional services working across a variety of industries, she joined Royal Mail PLC. In her time at Royal Mail, Liz held several senior positions both in and outside of finance, most latterly as the Chief Financial Officer for Royal Mail UK.

Liz is passionate about gender equality in a corporate setting and is looking forward to continuing to promote this further in the maritime sector.

A Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales, Liz also holds a degree in Accountancy from Sheffield Hallam University.

Andrew Crowe

Chief Commercial Officer

Andrew joined PD Ports as Chief Commercial Officer in 2023.

A Business Management graduate from Aston University, Andrew brings to this role significant experience in leading international businesses and successfully delivering transactions in multiple markets after spending 29 years with Shell. During his time with Shell, Andrew performed predominantly in commercial roles within business-to-business markets (fuels, lubricants, bitumen, petrochemicals), but also spent time in positions in Government Relations, as well as being a member of a Mergers & Acquisition team. Having acted most recently as Shell’s Country Chairman in Saudi Arabia, Andrew has 20 years’ worth of experience overseas in commercial roles that have involved national, regional and global responsibility.

Throughout his career, Andrew has focussed on a style of leadership that has helped to empower those who work with him and enable them to grow in their own roles of leadership. As testament to this, in 2021, Andrew was succeeded as Country Chairman of Shell in Saudi Arabia by the first ever Saudi Arabian national to hold this position.

After almost three decades in the energy sector, Andrew saw PD Ports as a new opportunity to enable him to continue developing his skillset together with a company that mirrors his values. In addition, given the increasing significance of the energy transition, Andrew valued the importance of being in sector adjacent to energy, and was attracted by PD Ports’ ambitions toward decarbonisation. In his new role as Chief Commercial Officer, Andrew looks to build on the work accomplished by PD Ports in the commercial space, and to deliver new growth to enable the company to remain competitive. Andrew is also committed to empowering team members to continue developing their skills, growing the relevance and value of PD Ports within the communities they serve and ensuring the Tees region is considered a leader within the UK’s decarbonisation journey.

Paul Foreman

Chief Operating Officer

Paul joined PD Ports as Chief Technology Officer in 2020, a new role created to help drive technological and operational transformation of the business. In 2023, Paul was announced as Chief Operating Officer, retaining his former responsibilities as Chief Technology Officer to drive transformational change through innovation across our IT infrastructure. An accountancy graduate from Northumbria University, Paul started his career in auditing before qualifying as a chartered accountant.

He joined Formica Group in 2001 and spent 10 years in various financial roles, starting in the UK then taking on roles for the European and then the Global business, before moving into Business Development focusing on manufacturing consolidation, growth, and acquisition opportunities. He was assigned to the Formica Asia business, based in Shanghai in China to help grow the business, then in 2012, was appointed Global CIO of the Formica & Laminex businesses, a €1bn revenue division of Fletcher Building, at that time Formica’s parent company. In this role, he looked after 7 business units around the world, with over 5,000 employees – the main focus of the role was leading two ERP programmes, implementation of a number of cloud applications and development of the Digital programme. In 2015, Paul was appointed Chief Operating Officer of the Formica EMEA business, with responsibility for manufacturing, supply chain and all operational aspects of the business, including HR, customer service, procurement, and IT. Apart from the day to day operations, the role was focused on the turnaround of the European business, with a number of major programmes including a major investment in a key manufacturing site.

Paul holds a Masters from Durham University and is also a Trustee for the Percy Hedley Foundation, a local charity that provides education and support for children & adults with special needs.

Michael McConnell

Group Property Director

Michael joined PD Ports as Group Property Director in 2007.

A chartered surveyor with 35 years working in both the public and private sector, Michael has extensive experience in property development, valuation, acquisition, disposal, management, rent reviews, and lease renewals.

Prior to joining PD Ports, Michael was Head of Property at the urban regeneration company, Sunderland arc, and was responsible for master planning, assembling, and marketing a number of nationally significant development sites as part of a £1.3 billion programme to regenerate Sunderland City Centre and the River Wear Corridor. Before this, Michael held senior positions in local government being a Chief Estates Officer and a member of the Association of Chief Estates Surveyors.

In his role with PD Ports, Michael is responsible for the management of the property portfolio and delivering new port related business opportunities, being involved in projects such as Tesco distribution warehouse and MGT Power Station developments at Teesport and JDR Cables at Hartlepool.

Michael is a member of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors and the Compulsory Purchase Association, also sitting on the regional council of the North East England Chamber of Commerce.  He chaired the North East England Chamber of Commerce Tees Valley Committee for a number of years and still sits on the Committee.

Jon Armstrong

HR and Statutory Compliance Director

Jon joined PD Ports in May 2000 as Financial Controller with initially a primary focus on the Teesport related businesses. Developments within the role then included responsibility for the Teesport IT team, a merger between the Northern and Southern accounts functions, and the development and launch of the group wide IFS software system. Jon has also been closely involved in the Group’s compliance with the Port Marine Safety Code since its inception, as well as overseeing a restructure of the Group’s Harbour Police and Security function. Jon was appointed as HR and Statutory Compliance Director in August 2021.

Jon is a Mining Engineering graduate from Newcastle University who then completed a Short Service Commission in The Corps of Royal Engineers, British Army. Prior to joining PD Ports, Jon completed professional accountancy training with KPMG and had held a number of financial roles at Pubmaster, a nationwide pub chain based in Hartlepool.

Jon is married with four children and Trustee of the York Air Museum and Allied Air Force Memorial.