Andrew Saunders, left of ODT Business Interiors, with Geest Line’s Chris Roberts, They are pictured in front of a boardroom oil painting depicting reefer Geestport, which was requisitioned by the British Government for the Falklands War in 1982.

Geest Line's new Headquarters at Eagle Point. Segensworth.

Finishing touches have been put to an ODT Business Interiors’ refit which sees a leading Caribbean shipping line with a new head office near Southampton.

Geest Line, which imports bananas from the Caribbean and exports general cargo on return sailings, moved into premises at Eagle Point, Little Park Farm Road at Segensworth.

Around 25 employees from Geest relocated to the landmark building from nearby 3700 Parkway, Solent Business Park, Whiteley, following a four-week, £80,000 project by locally-based office fit-out specialist ODT Business Interiors.

Refurbishment works for the new nerve centre of global operations, just off junction 9 of the M27, included installing office meeting rooms, partitioning, break-out areas, electrics, data and security. Geest Line, which has fostered trade links between the UK and Caribbean for more than 50 years, operates four refrigerated cargo vessels, known in the shipping industry as reefers. Calls take place at Portsmouth and Le Havre, France, with 60% of imported bananas destined for the supermarket shelves in the UK and the remainder for the Continent, from Italy to Norway.

Chris Roberts, Finance Director, Geest Line, said:

“Eagle Point is ideal for our purposes as we continue to develop the Geest Line as the Caribbean’s number one shipping line from the heart of Hampshire." The quality of the office refurbishment is very good and ODT delivered on time and within budget. We are very pleased with the look and feel of our new workplace, which will further enhance efficiencies.”

Andrew Saunders, a director at ODT Business Interiors, said:

“Office accommodation is generally the second largest cost after salaries, so it is important that new workplaces have functionality and aesthetics to appeal to employees. “We felt honoured to help Geest Line, which has an unrivalled reputation for schedule reliability and professionalism.”

Stop-offs for the Geest Line include Martinique, Antigua, Barbados, Dominica, Trinidad, Grenada, the Dominican Republic, Portsmouth and Le Havre.

Ships from Geest Line have played a part in world events. Last year the company helped with the relief effort for the Haiti earthquake, shipping much-needed medicines and medical equipment. In 1985 Geestbay rescued Richard Branson, Chay Blyth and the crew of Virgin Atlantic Challenger from sea after their failed attempt to claim the Blue Riband trophy for fastest Atlantic crossing.

In 1982 sister ship Geestport was requisitioned by the British Government to support the Falklands War, while Geestport was the first commercial vessel into Grenada after the American invasion a year later.

The refurbishment contract for Geest Line, for 6,000 sq ft (557.4 sq m) over two floors, is the latest for ODT Business Interiors, which has its head office at 1580 Parkway, Solent Business Park. Recent projects include creating the new head offices of Bacardi Martini near Winchester, First Drinks, which is Britain’s fastest-growing distributor of drinks, at Hook, salads producer Vitacress near Eastleigh and Insensys, a technology provider to the global wind power industry, near Fareham.

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For more information on Geest Line click on www.geestline.co.uk