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The Herald Scotland
4 days ago
- The Herald Scotland
CalMac Glen Sannox's ferry - will it help Arran bounce back?
This is not to declare the decision in the procurement process, led by Caledonian Maritime Assets Limited, that it should be a dual-fuel ferry capable of operating on marine diesel and liquefied natural gas did not add unnecessary and lamentable complexity. Rather, it is to observe the scale of the vessel, including its capacity, and the passenger experience. The mood on the packed vessel was no doubt helped by the fact that the sailing was on a Saturday at the peak of the recent long sunny spell, arguably a heatwave by Scottish standards. The stillness of the water was a lot more reminiscent of the Greek islands than the west of Scotland, and its colour, while not quite as vivid as the Aegean perhaps, was as impressive as it was uncharacteristic. There were seals swimming close to a buoy as the ferry departed. And the water in the distance at the base of Arran appeared almost white. CalMac's roll and bacon and potato scone was of the usual high standard. Memories of the coffee from the days when I travelled on CalMac ferries regularly when working for The Oban Times were of a large mug of strong black coffee. These days, you can purchase a latte in a takeaway cup featuring CalMac's yellow and red logo. The boat is very well fitted out, and the passenger experience is undoubtedly a good one, comparing it with some very pleasant ferry crossings throughout Europe. It was impossible, even in the relaxed atmosphere and glorious sunshine, not to contemplate briefly the effect on Arran of the Glen Sannox at last being in service. In this context, it is worth bearing in mind that the Glen Sannox is for now sailing between Troon and Brodick. And the Troon experience is quite different for a foot passenger arriving by rail from the arrangements at Ardrossan, where the train station is right next to the ferry terminal. CalMac will be operating the returning Caledonian Isles between Ardrossan and Brodick during its summer timetable, while the Glen Sannox will continue sailing between Troon and Arran. Clearly, residents on Arran have had to get used to a lot of upheaval in recent years, and the island has undoubtedly been hit hard by the unreliability of ferry services as it waited for the Glen Sannox. The Glen Sannox started sailing on the Troon to Brodick route in January (Image: Ian McConnell) Years late too is the Glen Rosa, which is also being built at Ferguson Marine and is now not expected to be in service on the Troon to Arran route until the second quarter of next year. Colin Morrison, finance director and company secretary of Auchrannie Resort, highlighted in an interview with The Herald in January the effect of the lack of reliability of ferry services in recent winters, and crucially also the publicity around this, in making people less confident about visiting. Mr Morrison, noting the new vessel's greater capacity and ability to operate in weather conditions in which the smaller Isle of Arran ferry could not, said then: 'It is good to see it in service. Certainly in the first couple of weeks it has been sailing in winds which would have prevented the Isle of Arran from sailing.' Read more It has been difficult to escape the impression that some politically motivated observers who have delighted in what has become known as Scotland's 'ferry fiasco' might almost have been hoping the arrival of the Glen Sannox on the route would be less smooth than has been the case. That said, minor issues have generated huge headlines. This is perhaps not surprising, given the high profile of the vessel caused in large part by the monumental cost overruns and delays in the building of it as well as the effect of this woe on CalMac services. However, what is surely important now is that Arran recovers from the troubles caused by ferry service disruption in recent years, and that tourism providers and others on the island can benefit from the arrival of the Glen Sannox, and eventually also the Glen Rosa when it turns up. It was interesting to catch up with the management of Auchrannie this week to find out about the resort's experience of the Glen Sannox, now that the vessel has been operating on the Troon to Brodick route for more than four months. And it was good to hear this experience has generally been positive. Auchrannie is obviously a business which relies so much on the CalMac ferry services. It has over the decades worked closely with the ferry operator, including offering packages inclusive of CalMac sailings. Tom Jessop, head of finance at the employee-owned Auchrannie Resort, said this week that 'ferry reliability has improved significantly since Glen Sannox entered service'. He did note that 'the weather since then has also been comparatively favourable'. Mr Jessop revealed that '2025 occupancy and forward bookings at the resort are up 5% on last year'. He added: 'We believe this is due to improved ferry reliability and capacity, better weather conditions, and less negative press coverage, which translates to an increase in customer confidence. With all of that said, signs look good that the Glen Sannox can sail in more challenging conditions than older ferries, and this bodes well for the future.' While there are obviously lessons to be learned from the delays and cost overruns in building the Glen Sannox and the Glen Rosa, what matters for people and businesses on Arran is what happens from here. In this regard it is most heartening to hear Auchrannie, a major employer on Arran which works closely with other businesses on the island and plays a big part in attracting visitors, express positive sentiments about the experience so far of the Glen Sannox sailing on the route and the outlook.
The Herald Scotland
07-05-2025
- Business
- The Herald Scotland
Why Scotch whisky distillery job cuts so difficult for island
His tone contrasted with that of many corporate leaders I have interviewed over the years who seem to simply not think about, or worse not care about, people as they talk about things having to be done for 'the business'. Of course, many business leaders I have spoken to thankfully do grasp the fact that 'the business' would not exist as an entity without the people in it. My conversation with Mr MacEachran left me in no doubt that the Isle of Harris Distillery management team is acutely aware of the profound effects of the decision that has been made about redundancies on the workforce. This was no surprise to me, given a clear founding purpose of the distillery was to provide sustainable employment for a fragile island community and also my past conversations with management. The distillery's current workforce of 45 is significantly higher than what was envisioned would be possible over the years in which those behind it worked to turn the dream of creating it into a reality. All of this will probably not be of much comfort to those affected by the redundancy process. And there is no doubt that it is lamentable that the chill being faced by the broader Scotch whisky industry, which had for so long enjoyed such good times, has affected Isle of Harris Distillery's business in a way which has led management to see no alternative but to make job cuts. I covered the Isle of Harris Distillery story for years before the venture opened in 2015 - including the vision and fundraising - and have continued to write about it ever since. In conversations with managing director Simon Erlanger over that long period, his passion over the creation of the distillery and crucially the employment on the island it has enabled has come across strongly. A visit to the distillery in the autumn of 2017, during which I interviewed Mr Erlanger and spoke to some of the employees, reinforced in my mind just how important the jobs created by the distillery are to the island community. Read more I was, in any case, well aware of this, from covering remote and island communities a long number of years ago when working for The Oban Times, and from having in my role at The Herald written about many businesses operating in areas where labour markets are fragile. Isle of Harris Distillery has enjoyed many successes over the years. Its gin not only provided crucial cash flow while the distillery waited for its single malt Scotch whisky, The Hearach, to be ready, but also won many awards. Many people will be familiar with the distinctive Isle of Harris gin bottle. The Hearach, named after the Gaelic word for a native of Harris, was launched in autumn 2023. In summer 2023, just ahead of the launch, Mr Erlanger told me: 'We talk about this as being the end of the beginning. We now go into a different momentum, a different era. In a way, we have gone through a lot of growing pains [with] a very inexperienced team. 'We have 45 local people now, which is double what we said we would deliver.' Mr MacEachran noted then that one-third of this workforce was under 30. The distillery, which is owned by private investors, has worked hard on forming lasting bonds with its customer base. And many of its customers have been inspired to travel to Harris as a result. Mr Erlanger last week described the planned redundancies as 'deeply regrettable', characterising the decision as 'a move to safeguard the future' of the business. He said: 'We are introducing a restructuring programme which will see reduced production and workforce at the distillery. 'Much like our colleagues in the wider spirits industry, we are facing challenging headwinds which have led to some incredibly difficult decisions. Following a number of cost-cutting measures, voluntary redundancy is being offered to staff in the first instance, with compulsory to follow thereafter if we do not fulfil our cost reduction target. It is deeply regrettable we find ourselves in this situation and would like to take the opportunity to thank our entire team, particularly those affected by the changes, for their dedication and contribution to the business.' Mr MacEachran told The Herald last week that the business was now having to move from two shifts to one shift a day in its distillation. Read more He said: 'We have taken the desperately sad decision to reduce our cost base further. It is without doubt the saddest day in the distillery's young life. It is essential to allow us to navigate through these difficult times." Mr MacEachran emphasised that every effort had been made to avoid job losses, with other expenditure such as advertising and promotion cut and capital spending deferred. He said of the job cuts: "We have where we can reduced other costs. This is the very last area. We have tried to avoid it. It is now essential." Mr MacEachran highlighted the distillery's conclusion that the challenges being faced were not viewed as 'very short term', and appeared at pains to point out that the decision to cut jobs would not have been taken if they had been seen that way, Mr Erlanger said: 'We remain true to our founding purpose as a sustainable, multi-generational firm built to support the community for many years to come. The regrettable measures now being taken are necessary to help fulfil that long-term vision.' The distillery has declined to specify the number of redundancies being sought while discussions with staff are ongoing. Asked last week if he had any idea at this stage whether there would be enough volunteers to avoid compulsory redundancies, Mr MacEachran replied: "We have to wait and see. I have no understanding of that at this point." He emphasised not only the recent efforts to try to avoid job losses but also the broader context. Mr MacEachran said: 'What we have seen across the industry in recent months are significant reductions in A and P (advertising and promotion) expenditure, headcount reductions, some of them very significant, slowing down of distillation or mothballing of distilleries." While noting the challenges were expected to persist over the medium term, Mr MacEachran expressed hopes that, when the market conditions improved, the distillery might be able to increase the size of its workforce again. This came across as a passionately held wish. It is important to be realistic and bear in mind the emphasis from management of the enduring nature of the challenges currently being faced. And the scale of the impact of these challenges on the distillery and crucially its workforce must be recognised. However, when this difficult chapter comes to an end, we must hope there will be better times again for the distillery, its workforce and the Harris community.
