The new boss of Bermuda’s docks said the industry had to face up to declining volumes of cargo and possible relocation to another site if Hamilton’s planned redevelopment of its waterfront goes ahead.

And Warren Jones, the new CEO of Polaris Holdings, which owns Stevedoring Services, added that working hours, safety issues and communications with customers and the general public were all under the microscope with a view to lowering the costs of doing business, both for the firm and its stakeholders.

And he had already opened discussions with the workforce on how to face the future.

Mr Jones, the former Education Ministry permanent secretary, said: “The discussions have been very frank about what we need to to do to meet the expectations of our stakeholders and customers.

“Lower volumes creates challenges for us going forward. One thing we are discussing is how we work to meet these challenges.”

He added: “It places challenges on us, particularly in how we work and so we have a collective bargaining agreement and anybody who knows me knows I understand the relationship between management and its union partners.”

And he said: “We have already started to discuss the fact that we need to think about how we are going to address this and I can say the staff are willing to have these discussions and understand that we do have to look at how we do things.

“Their concern is that what we do is fair and that we can explain and show them the rationale of what we need to do. It’s about working smarter and being more efficient.”

Mr Jones added: “It’s important that the staff are respected because they are the experts — they know what they’re doing. I have to respect their ideas. I may not agree with them, but we have to have open dialogue.”

Mr Jones added that — although various new locations for docks had been talked about, including North Shore, St George’s and Marginal Wharf in St David’s, he had not been approached about the docks moving.

He said: “There have been a number of ideas thrown out and to all of these ideas there have been pundits who have responded on the pros and cons of each.”

He added: “At this point, I haven’t been involved in any discussions about moving the docks. Certainly, I would expect that we would be part of those discussions.

“It’s an important discussion and key players need to be at the table. It’s a huge project and it has to be right, not just for the waterfront development, but for all stakeholders who are paying to bring their goods into the Island.”

Mr Jones, 55, a married father of two grown-up sons, took over the post only two weeks ago, after 13 years in the Civil Service — although he has also spent time in the private sector.

Mr Jones, from Warwick, started as a teacher and later moved to an executive position with the Bermuda Telephone Company before rejoining the public service then left to take up his current post.

He said: “It’s a challenge, but an exciting challenge. My first impression is that staff here are very keen to do a good job — they recognise they are the gateway to Bermuda and that everything on store shelves or driven out of garages comes from these docks.

“You look at their faces, you can see pride.”

Mr Jones added that he had regularly visited the dockside to look at operations.

He said: “This is a dangerous job they do. I have been out on the docks and I have told them they can expect to see me every day.”