A major Japanese shipping line is moving its London-based staff to a newly refurbished office in Liverpool;the company will benefit from grants given by the Liverpool developement agency and from the lower office costs of LIverpool. The Export department will be based in Liverpool, whilst the Import and Financial Departments will operate from the Southampton office. Meanwhile, another major shipping line has been criticised for benefitting from re-location grants in Liverpool, and then cutting staff numbers. The freight forwarding and shipping industries face major financial challenges and the larger companies are having to rationalise staff accordingly.