On the banks of the River Mersey, operator Peel Ports has invested £400m in constructing Liverpool2 over the past three years. On completion of its second phase in 2019, this will be one of Europe’s most advanced container terminals, based at what is already the UK’s largest transatlantic port.

A similar story is unfolding across the country at the Humber estuary, where Associated British Ports (ABP) is in the middle of a multimillion-pound investment project upgrading the ports of Hull, Immingham, Grimsby and Goole.

On the surface, this type of investment runs contrary to the public narrative that Brexit is putting a freeze on major infrastructure spending. But dig a little deeper and it becomes apparent that Brexit, and in particular the prospect of a no-deal scenario, is providing additional justification for investments that will have significant long-term implications for regional property markets.