NorthLink Ferries formed to complete Northern Isles handover

Graphic version of this page | Change how these pages look

NorthLink Ferries formed to complete Northern Isles handover
Back

06 July 2006

NorthLink Ferries Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary of David MacBrayne Ltd, whose sole shareholder is Scottish Ministers, is today completing the arrangements to begin operating the Northern Isles ferry sevice operation, previously handled by Northlink Orkney and Shetland Ferries Limited.

The new operator, NorthLink Ferries Limited, the Scottish Executive, and The Royal Bank of Scotland (which own the fleet of ships used on the services), are today (July 6 2006), signing all the documents required to award the Northern Isles Ferry Services to NorthLink Ferries Ltd.

The contract will come into effect immediately and the transfer of services to NorthLink Ferry Services takes place today on 6 July 2006.

Today, all staff currently employed by NorthLink Orkney & Shetland Ferries Limited transferred under TUPE to the new operator, and NorthLink Ferries Ltd became employer effective from this date. All staff transferred to NorthLink Ferries Limited under their present Terms and Conditions.

Dr Harold Mills, Chairman of CalMac, said: “I am delighted that CalMac was in a position to submit the winning bid for the Northern Isles service tender. The Board of NorthLink Ferries Ltd is made up of me and Peter Timms, who will by my successor as CalMac Chairman and has been involved with NorthLink Orkney and Shetland Ferries Ltd, along with Lawrie Sinclair and Alex Lynch, currently Managing Director and Finance Director respectively of Caledonian MacBrayne. We very much look forward to working with Northlink staff to develop the shipping services to Orkney and Shetland and to building on the success which NorthLink Orkney & Shetland Ferries Ltd have achieved over the last four years. Since Caledonian MacBrayne was identified as the preferred bidder to the new contract in March, key tasks and priorities associated with the completion of the contract documentation and the start-up of the new NorthLink Ferries operation have been progressed. This included a series of successful meetings between CalMac and island farmers where our permanent plans to transport livestock in a containerised system were unveiled.”

Dr Mills added: “The operation of the routes has been a significant success in terms of the service offered to customers. I look forward to building on that through my successors on the Board and the staff and crew who have been key to the improvements. Success from today will be a seamless transition to the new arrangements and in reality our customers should not notice any difference in terms of the quality of our operation. I am pleased that the Minister has resolved the outstanding freight issue in Orkney and I know that our technical experts are working very hard with the relevant sectors on the islands to achieve the permanent solution for livestock transport. I am sure that by working together with the communities and business of the Northern Isles, as we have being doing for the last few years, we can go on and achieve further success over the six years ahead.”

Ends

Note to News Editors: David MacBrayne Limited was a dormant company, wholly owned by Scottish Ministers, which has been activated to become the parent company of the operator of the Northern Isles contract. David MacBrayne Limited now owns NorthLink Ferries Limited and remains in the ownership of Scottish Ministers, as does Caledonian MacBrayne Limited which is a separate Company.

For further information on the contents of this News Release, please contact Hugh Dan MacLennan, Head of Communication and Customer Care, Caledonian MacBrayne. Tel: 0776 435 4021; e-mail hugh.maclennan@calmac.co.uk

Issued: Thursday, 6 July, 2006 : 1430

Home
| Privacy Policy | Website Credits | Disclaimer |

Caledonian MacBrayne and CalMac are trading names of CalMac Ferries Limited (SC302282)