Shipping is among the industries hardest hit by the recession, with rates plunging as trade dries up. But the north-west’s last remaining shipowners have ridden the storm with ease, thanks to early efforts to diversify.

Bibby Line of Liverpool and James Fisher, based in Barrow, have 350 years of history between them and built larger businesses on the back of ships. Their need to continue evolving has also kept the region’s fee-starved advisers busy as they use strong cash positions to hunt for bargains.