Grimsby is a place that has always seemed to attract pioneering people -
- people with a spirit to change the future.
My family came to Grimsby in about 1878.
That was my three times great grandfather Robert Ornsby.
Robert took all of his family including eight children -
- on the new trains and brought them to Great Grimsby.
Thousands of people came here -
- for fishing. They could put the fish onto a train -
- and that evening it could be eaten in a London hotel. That was just magic.
We were thousands of fishermen and the comradery was so good.
Nobody would see you without pound in your pocket.
If you were out on the ship, you could go in a pub -
- and somebody would give you three pound or buy you a drink.
The comradery was really good.
I first took this ship in 1975, and I was here until 1983 -
- till it lured out, packed up.
Everything was good with the fishing industry -
- but once the fishing industry went into decline, that was it.
Grimsby didn't exist.
If they got this ship ready, I'd go back. I'd go back tomorrow.
Grimsby's legacy is a fantastic fishing heritage -
- but we've had to think differently. And over the last seven years -
- working with private companies, public agencies and the government -
- we've set about creating a new vision for Grimsby -
- around offshore wind and renewable energy.
I think green energy is henceforth part of our answer. And it is sustainable.
At university in Newcastle, we had a lecture about how offshore wind was growing -
- and developing in the Newcastle area, and how it was regenerating the town.
Which was another northern town. It had a really similar story to Grimsby.
It sparked my interest. It was something I connected with in that lecture.
So I looked into careers in this sector and saw that there was a great future -
- for Grimsby, and lots of careers to aspire to for a young person like me.
My father works here on the port. Next to our building is the fish market.
That's somewhere that he has gone every day for most of his life.
I remember a conversation maybe three-four years ago -
- about how our family name wouldn't continue on the port.
I worked in a different role and my sister aspired to a different industry -
- so my dad would be the last person on the port with the surname Little.
So for me to get this role and tell him I'd be working side by side on the port.
He just laughed and said, "After all this time, we'll continue in the same place -
- that I've worked all my life, both of us."
I've been down there all these years, and it's strange that -
- my daughter is following in my footsteps -
- but in a different industry within the town. It's fabulous.
I never thought that I'd end up working down dock.
The train line is coming down to the dock.
After all the stories that you told every night.
I followed in my father's footsteps, and now you're following in yours. It's amazing.
My future is in Grimsby. It's where I'm going to buy a home.
It's where the story started, and I'll have many stories to tell.
It's all centred around Grimsby and that feeling of home.
I was always interested in the engineering side of it -
- so it seemed a perfect opportunity when the applications came out.
I was just interested in engineering -
- and wind turbines is the road for me to go down.
I was very keen in geography, going to school -
- so it's nice to work with like-minded people, that are into the same stuff.
First year is the foundation for the apprenticeship. We learn the basics -
- before we go on to wind turbines, so we have a basic idea of what to do.
This is where the blades will attach. We've got three main blade points.
When the turbines spin, we go through the gearbox -
- which changes it to a faster rotation to generate more electricity.
This is used to set up the wind turbine in the best position.
If the winds come in more at an angle, the wind turbine will slightly change.
Then the wind will hit more effectively, so we get more electricity.
I'd definitely like to make my way through the company -
- become a manager one day. I'll stay with it because -
- green energy won't disappear anytime soon, and this company will stay for long.
- Do you worry about seasickness? - I don't.
- I'm not worried, but I will be seasick. - I was on my first time but never since.
Everyone is there to look after you, teammates -
- deputies, threes and fours. You are their priority when offshore.
I'll be interested in travelling around for a few years. It's good to know -
- about opportunities in Taiwan, Japan or America.
It's nice to know that we are making an effect elsewhere as well.
You'll walk up those steps and go in to a reception -
- to get your own key and a sign and everything.
- When do you get up in the morning? - About 5 o'clock.
- Lewis, you'll wake up a little later. - Yeah, 5.30-5.45.
It's really important in your first year to get your time running smooth.
And get into a routine, doing it for a solid weak.
After a couple of days, it comes natural to you.
It's important to get out of bed because the boat won't wait for you.
- Sunrises. - Looking forward to the sunrises?
- You'll get that in January. - I think I miss every morning.
- Seeing that from top of a wind turbine. - Get some good Instagram photos.
I started my career in the military.
After twelve years in the Royal Navy, I wanted to start a family.
That was the main reason I left.
I didn't want to be away for my son's or my daughter's first birthday.
So I think a lot of people are attracted to the renewable industry -
- because of the structure. Day to day, we need to work smart and efficiently.
So many things need to go right on time -
- so operating a wind farm is like a military operation.
But the most attractive for me was the work life balance.
I can be at home every night, see my family. Ørsted's vision is:
Let's create a world that runs entirely on green energy.
If I can make a small impact that carries on for my children, why not?
It's just a job, but it's important to me for what we're trying to achieve.
We've now got over 300 people that work from our East Coast Hub in Grimsby.
Four years ago, that was only 20 people, so the growth is really rapid.
We've done some analysis -
- and most of the people that work from our base live within an hour drive.
The community is important because our people live and work in it.
If they're living in the local community and earning money in this industry -
- they're spending that money in local shops and services in their leisure time.
So there's a broader benefit in what the industry is bringing to the town.
The day we opened, there was me and three members of staff. That was all.
We now have three different sites with 23 employees, so we've grown quite a bit.
A lot of that is directly due to the offshore wind industry.
It probably accounts for 50% of our catering, the offshore industry.
A lot of the people in the business -
- all the catering companies are doing work for the offshore industry now.
So there is definitely an impact there. There is more money coming into the area.
The change on Grimsby Docks itself is quite massive.
It was very dilapidated, all broken buildings -
- the roads were not in a great state.
Since the wind energy companies came, a lot has happened.
The infrastructure is changing, old buildings are torn down. More is built.
So loads of change.
Ten years ago it wasn't possible to open a brewery in Grimsby.
The economic harness was different.
Offshore wind was only just getting going, so you didn't see the benefits.
But since we opened, a huge number of people have journeyed to this building -
- to have a drink. Within three years -
- this square mile of Grimsby will be absolutely unrecognisable.
I really feel, if it can happen in Grimsby, there's no reason it can't happen anywhere.
That all communities can benefit from a new industry like offshore wind.
Grimsby is becoming well known now as a leader -
- in this area of technology and expertise.
It probably wouldn't have happened if offshore wind hadn't come to the area.
It's the place people want to come, whether they're coming from London -
- or America. We've had a lot of interest from the States.
This is where they want to see -
- how transformational a change can be from one industry.
There are lots of communities around the world that are suffering -
- from this post-industrial town syndrome that internationalism hasn't affected.
But if Grimsby can adapt -
- there's no reason other communities around the world can't accept -
- something new and different, which is very much in the 21st century -
- that will help the whole of the country.
I told everybody when it first came up, "This is going to be very big. Get onto it."
Nobody was really getting involved, so I did it myself.
I desperately wanted to be a fisherman. My father and my brother were skippers.
But my mum and dad didn't want that, and my brother said he would hit me.
So I started as an errand boy, and that progressed...
I became a fish auctioneer at 18 and when I was 30 years old -
- I started my own company.
That carried on very well, but unfortunately there was a downturn -
- when Iceland declared a 50-mile limit and then a 200-mile limit.
So that destroyed half of the fleet in Grimsby, and then -
- in 2005 wind power came to Grimsby. They had no local mileage.
Everybody said, "Go see Kurt." That's when I formed WindPower Support.
It was brilliant. There I was at the age of 60 and every day I met somebody new -
- I learned something new, I earned some money.
It was brilliant, and I'm pleased to see that it's still carrying on.
We were quite helpful. People kept saying:
"You're doing such a good job. What management systems are you using?"
And the only thing I did in wind power was what I did for fishing.
Boats come in. They want fuel, food, a change crew, repairs -
- and they want to get back out there because a boat in dock is no money.
The rest is history. We have ten years of helping develop the business in Grimsby.
One advice: If wind power is coming to your town, grab it. You'll be rewarded.
It's a fascinating ride.