TWO of the biggest names in marine business have decided to drop anchor in Southampton.

In a welcome antidote to recent high profile job losses, prestige marine firms Carnival and Lloyds Register have announced plans to build headquarters in the historic port city.

It is hoped the move could persuade other marine industry giants to base themselves here, creating a lucrative "marine cluster".

Cruise giant Carnival is to bring its operation, currently spread across five sites in Southampton, together under one roof in a landmark headquarters on the former Pirelli site.

The US firm which owns Cunard, P&O Cruises and Queen Mary 2, plans a "modern, imposing office building" for its 900 staff, but is building in room to expand to 1,200 workers as its cruise business grows.

Only 91 car parking spaces will be available on site underneath the building, so council bosses have struck a deal to lease 450 spaces at Eastgate Street multi-storey car park on weekdays worth more than £590,000 a year.

The deal also puts plans for an entertainment arena, ice rink and conference centre firmly back on the table and kick starts development of the West Quay Phase Three scheme.

Council bosses hope to sell a 999-year lease on the Carnival office land for an undisclosed sum, believed to be in the region of £10m, and use the money to encourage a developer to come in and take the arena plans forward.

The deal is a coup for the council, which had feared losing a prestige employer to a rival area. David Dingle, managing director of Carnival UK, said it made sense to stay in Southampton. "It seemed sensible to remain in the city, our staff are used to commuting in and out and a central location like this gives easy access."

Meanwhile, the marine arm of Lloyd's Register will be relocating from its traditional home in the City of London to a new base at the city's university in a move that will create 100 new jobs.

The radical plans would see the transformation of the University's outdated Boldrewood campus which would be demolished. It will be replaced with a flagship scheme that would comprise a school of management for the university and a landmark building to house Lloyd's 450 strong workforce.

Plans are due to be submitted to planners by the end of the year with new buildings ready by 2009 if the scheme gets the go-ahead.

From then Lloyds workforce would move to the city in phases over the next three years and will share facilities with students and staff at the new campus.

Southampton City Council chief executive Brad Roynon said the development represented "a feather in the cap" for the city. He said: "This new investment into our city is very welcome and continues the progress of recent years."

Executive chairman of Lloyds Register David Moorhouse said: "What we are doing will attract a number of our major clients to come and bring their activity to Southampton.

"Already, in engineering terms, it is the largest cluster in the UK for maritime activity. We could make this a world leading city for all things maritime."

gareth lewis