Comhairle Welcomes CalMac Appointment

The Comhairle has welcomed yesterday’s announcement that Robbie Drummond has been appointed as Managing Director of CalMac Ferries Ltd.

Cllr Uisdean Robertson, Chair of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee said, “We are pleased that CalMac has concluded the recruitment process for the post of Managing Director and that Robbie Drummond has been appointed on a permanent basis.

This provides greater certainty and continuity going forward and gives us the opportunities to continue to pursue our previous areas of priority with CalMac.

The importance of local knowledge is key to effective decision-making and providing accurate information in the event of planned and unplanned service interruptions and we know that Mr Drummond recognises the importance of locally based operations staff. Fairer vessel deployment is of key importance to island communities for which ferries are a lifeline service. We will continue to press for a greater location of management and administrative functions, roles and posts into those communities served by CalMac. 

The lifeline nature of ferry services to and within the islands is recognised but the location of such posts to the islands would provide significant and more sustainable benefits to the fragile economies of the communities that are served by CalMac.

We very much look forward to continuing to work with Mr Drummond and his management team in seeking to maximise the benefits possible under the CHFS contract."