Bibby Line

Coordinates: 53°24′5.9″N 2°58′51.3″W / 53.401639°N 2.980917°W / 53.401639; -2.980917

Bibby Line is a UK company concerned with shipping and marine operations.

Its parent company, Bibby Line Group Limited, can be traced back to the shipbroking partnership of Bibby & Hall, which was founded in 1801. The company along with all the group companies such as Bibby Ship Management is based in Liverpool.

History

The Bibby Line was founded in 1807 by the first John Bibby (1775–1840). It has operated in most areas of shipping throughout its 200-year history, and claims to be the oldest independently owned deep sea shipping line in the world. Along with other British ship owners, it endured hard economic conditions in the 1970s and 1980s, but survived through diversification into floating accommodation. The group diversified in the 1980s and 1990s and Bibby Financial Services was formed in 1982. Today, the financial services division has 46 offices in 15 countries.

Today the company employs about 3,500 people, mainly in UK distribution, and has financial services offices in USA, Australia, Poland, France and Canada. Its traditional base, shipping, has undergone something of a renaissance, and grew fourfold in the 2003–07 period on the back of the success of its floating accommodation business, ship management activities and shrewd timing of disposal of ships.