Just two weeks after hitting leisure users with a maximum 30% increase in charges for this year, Falmouth Harbour is advertising a new position ‘head of commercial operations’ with a starting salary of £45k.

This may anger some boat owners and leisure users, but in fairness the time has finally come for FH to alter course and invest in new projects in order to grow whilst coming less reliant on traditional revenue streams.

The harbour authority has been able to rely for decades on commercial shipping dues, pilotage, moorings fees and revenue from its popular Falmouth Haven marina.

FH chief executive Miles Carden has defended the new job, saying: "This role is critical to the future growth of our harbour. This has been funded from growth reserves, to ensure some of the new projects we want to work on are driven forward fast.

"In particular this should drive forward projects we are working on with new innovative technology partners. We will be able to confirm some news on this soon.

"Part of the salary will be covered by external funding and new land-based and marine revenue that the role will generate.”

He explained that "FH has to drive forward opportunities around Floating Offshore Wind (FLOW) and the FabTest project has now been brought in house, with external funding secured and confirmed over next two years, which will help fund this role. The salary is dependent upon experience but will be mid £40k as a guide.”

Miles added: "My Board investing in the growth agenda is a positive, in my view, and I think the harbour will see the benefit.

"I could bring in external consultants, and people might not be aware. We do need independent advice but I want this to add real value. This role will be a new job in Falmouth, a resource locally, we can build capacity and knowledge in the role. The harbour users should see the benefits, as it is about making us less reliant on direct revenue form harbour users.

"If we don't deliver this growth we will not address the spiral of decline we are faced with. So it is coincidence that the timing is a similar time to the annual price rises.

"This has been planned as part of the FH growth strategy for about nine months. FH has to invest to grow. This internal resource will reduce the need for external consultants. We will need those, but this will deliver a good balance. This is a non-operational growth role."

Miles is a man of vision, who in this first year in office has revitalised FH, thrusting the organisation into the public limelight with ideas for new projects, resourcing funding, a brilliant website, joining Cruise Britain, whilst actively promoting Falmouth on various important social media business platforms. People in Falmouth know more about the port than ever before.

He explained how he sees the port rejuvenating with time: "I need to start driving large watersports events, drive cruise traffic and destination Falmouth, making more out of FabTest, develop marine based projects for future shared prosperity funding, bid for funding so our money goes further.

"We at FH have been relatively poor at levering in money to make every pound into two or three, we can do more. Already in this last year, we have levered in over £100k of HM Gov funding to accelerate growth.

"It is exactly this type of resource Falmouth has lacked and it is why we haven't got what we need in terms of harbour investment. The role of head of commercial operations will and needs to pay for itself and much more."

From the table and graph one can see the decline in commercial shipping over the years.

Falmouth’s strategic position at the entrance to the channel proved decisive again in 2006 when all ships inward from the west and south entering the Emissions Control Area (ECA) had to burn low sulphur fuel as they passed the longitude of five degrees west, which is just east of St Anthony’s lighthouse.

From 2007 to 2012 the port handled nearly 10,000 bunker ships. Since then, with ports worldwide covering all types of fuel oil, the bunkering has declined to approximately 400 ships per year. Nowadays the bunkering industry is a volatile and tough market for bunkering companies.

“ We are recruiting another role in the Falmouth Harbour team, a customer care assistant, which is 100% funded through the HM Gov kickstart programme. Therefore is of no cost to the harbour or its customers.

"This is an amazing opportunity for someone local to join our team and this will help us to improve the high level of service we provide our customers,” added Miles.