Launching the Humber Express

In October 2021 Gravity PR worked with our client DFDS Seaways to organise the media and PR launch of the Humber Express – the FIRST intermodal rail service from the Port of Immingham with the potential to move 80 containers a day.

The strategy behind The Humber Express, a partnership between shipping giant DFDS Seaways and the iPort Rail inland terminal in Doncaster – to deliver freight from the Port of Immingham to the UK’s most advanced multimodal logistics hub in South Yorkshire.

Our remit was to organise and manage a PR launch of the service at the DFDS railhead at Immingham. Logistically, this wasn’t straight forward. There was no building close to the railhead that would accommodate invited guests from the rail industry, customers, local government and the media and we couldn’t rely on the weather being kind due to the event being held in late October.

Gravity PR organised a heated marquee, guest invites to approximately 100 people, a catering company to provide breakfast sandwiches, hot drinks and orange juice. We even brought in posh portable loos!

We organised a stage and PA equipment for speeches immediately prior to the train’s departure and facilitated media interviews with both print and broadcast journalists.

The result? Positive media coverage for our client across regional and trade media and broadcast coverage across the UK on national BBC news.