The Economic and Social Impact of
CalMac Ferries Ltd on Scotland
A report to CalMac Ferries Ltd from the Fraser of Allander Institute
April 2015
The Fraser of Allander Institute
for Research on the Scottish Economy,
University of Strathclyde
100 Cathedral Street
Glasgow G4 OLN
Scotland, UK
Tel: 0141-548 3958
Email: fraser@strath.ac.uk
Website: www.fraser.strath.ac.uk
The place of useful learning
The University of Strathclyde is a charitable body, registered in Scotland, number SC015263
Key Findings
This study examines several facets of the Scottish ferry operator CalMac Ferries Ltd (CalMac).
It focuses on the economic activity created by the company’s operations, particularly on how it
supports ‘lifeline’ economic activity on the Scottish islands which it serves.
CalMac’s key objective is to provide support to those living on the Scottish Islands. It does this
both by providing residents with access to the mainland, but also by ferrying the majority of
items sold by local retailers, without which it would be difficult to maintain an acceptable
quality of life on the islands. Finally, CalMac’s activities are a vital support for island produce.
Items exported from the islands include food and drink products, notably high value exports
such as whisky and shellfish, both of which contribute significantly to total Scottish exports.
The study also shows the extent to which that CalMac delivers support for island tourism
Volume of Business
Figures on its volume of business, both for passengers and for shipments on goods and
services, provide an initial indication of its importance in this regard.

CalMac carried an average of 4.64 million (M) passengers per annum between 2009-14
and carried 4.65 M passengers in 2014

CalMac carried 1.1 M cars in 2014

CalMac is the key channel of support for commercial activity on the islands it serves,
and carried 92,734 commercial vehicles in 2014
Economic Impact – Scotland
The study estimates that:

CalMac’s £145 M of turnover supports a total of £269.8 worth of turnover across
Scotland as a whole

The 1,476 jobs at CalMac support a total of 5,883 jobs across Scotland as a whole

Average wages at CalMac (£29,683) are 12% higher than the average wage in
Scotland
Employee experience


The jobs provided at CalMac tend to be long term - on average, each employee has
spent 13.6 years with the company
CalMac employees have a total of more than 20,000 years of experience.
Economic Impacts – Local areas
A key aspect of this study examines the extent to which CalMac provides support for local
communities, particularly fragile island communities where there are limited alternative
opportunities for employment (“lifeline” communities). Some of the key results concerning
lifeline communities served by CalMac include:



CalMac employs 281 people and spends £7.99 M on wages in Argyll & Bute
CalMac employs 184 people and spends £ 5.00 M on wages in Comhairle nan Eilean
Siar
CalMac employs 148 people and spends £ 4.26 M on wages in Highland region
Argyll & Bute – island communities








Coll - jobs at CalMac account for 1 job in every 26 jobs on the island
Colonsay - jobs at Cal Mac account for 1 job in every 17 jobs on the island
Gigha - jobs at CalMac account for 1 job in every 11 jobs on the island
Islay - jobs at CalMac account for 1 job in every 73 jobs on the island
Mull - jobs at Cal Mac account for 1 job in every 34 jobs on the island
Tiree - jobs at CalMac account for 1 job in every 41 jobs on the island
Bute - jobs at CalMac account for 1 job in every 66 jobs on the island
CalMac is also a significant employer in Oban, where it accounts for 1 job in every 48
jobs
Comhairle nan Eilean Siar – island communities





Barra - jobs at CalMac account for 1 job in every12 jobs on the island
Harris and Lewis - jobs at CalMac account for 1 job in every 66 jobs on the island
North Uist - jobs at CalMac account for 1 job in every 28 jobs on the island
South Uist - jobs at CalMac account for 1 job in every 33 jobs on the island
Eriskay - jobs at CalMac account for 1 job in every 16 jobs on the island
Highlands – island communities


Eigg - jobs at CalMac account for 1 job in every 9 jobs on the island
Skye - jobs at CalMac account for 1 job in every 154 jobs on the island
Impact in Inverclyde





CalMac’s HQ is based in Inverclyde and the company is a major employer in the area –
it employs 169 people directly and supports the employment of a total of 262 local
residents once the effect of wage spending by its employees is taken into account.
Inverclyde is an area of relative deprivation, where unemployment has been above the
Scottish in recent years and where average wages in 2014 were around 12% below the
Scottish average
We estimate that it supports 1 in every 136 jobs in Inverclyde
Average pay for CalMac employees in Inverclyde is £30,660, around 56% above the
Inverclyde average
CalMac injected more than £9 million (£9.21 million) into the Inverclyde economy in
2014, including both wage payments to local residents and supply purchases from
companies based in Inverclyde1
Island Tourism
While CalMac does not itself create activity in tourism, it enables tourists to visit the Scottish
islands. The study calculates the extent to which CalMac’s support for island tourism creates
economic activity on the islands and, using conservative assumptions, we estimate that:


1
CalMac enables 3,247 jobs in island tourism
CalMac enables £53.4 M worth of wages in island tourism
This excludes £18.9 million paid to Caledonian Marine Assets Limited.
Introduction and Background
This study examines several aspects of the Scottish ferry operator CalMac Ferries Ltd
(CalMac). The key findings of this study are estimates of CalMac’s economic impact, both on
Scotland as a whole and on specific areas within Scotland - for the latter, we focus on
estimates of how CalMac supports ‘lifeline’ economic activity on Scottish islands. In addition,
the study also examines a range of other impacts –for example, the results demonstrate that
the company’s activity in transporting tourists to the islands has a very considerable effect on
the local tourism industry. The study also examines its involvement with and support for local
businesses and communities among other issues. It also examines a number of recent
performance indicators.
CalMac - History
CalMac has a long history of operating ferry services in Scotland. The company now operating
as CalMac began life in 1851, as David Hutcheson & Co, and operated services from Glasgow
to Inverness through the Crinan and Caledonian canals. In the late 1870’s the company was
taken over by David MacBrayne and services were expanded as new railways were built in the
Highlands. The company eventually merged with railway companies in 1928 and a new
company (David MacBrayne (1928)) was formed. This company was nationalised in 1948 and
in 1953 was amalgamated into the Scottish Transport Group (STG).
Caledonian MacBrayne was reformed as a ferry company in 1990. CalMac Ferries Ltd, (CFL)
was incorporated in 2006 as a wholly-owned subsidiary of David MacBrayne Ltd, which is
wholly owned by Scottish Ministers.
Business Volumes - Caledonian MacBrayne
CalMac’s key objective is to provide support to people living on the Scottish Islands by
providing access to the mainland and figures on its volume of business, both for passengers
and for shipments on goods and services, provide an initial indication of its importance in this
regard.
Chart 1 shows the number of passengers carried from 2009, during which time it carried an
average of 4.64 million (M) passengers per annum2. Chart 2 also shows that the company has
carried more than 1M cars in all years.
The falloff in both passengers and cars in 2011 and 2012 is most likely to be due to reduced
economic activity in Scotland. We note that passenger numbers actually rose (by around 3%)
between 2012-14 and that over the same period the number of cars carried rose by around
5% (see Chart 2).
Chart 1 - CalMac Passenger Numbers
Millions
4.80
4.76
4.74
4.75
4.70
4.65
4.65
4.59
4.60
4.58
4.55
4.51
4.50
4.45
4.40
4.35
2009
2
2010
2011
2012
2013
The passenger numbers include both residents using the ferries and visitors to the islands.
2014
Chart 2 - Number of Cars Carried
Millions
1.12
1.11
1.10
1.10
1.08
1.08
1.06
1.06
1.06
1.05
1.04
1.02
1.00
2009
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
CalMac also transports goods as well as people, and is clearly the key channel of support for
commercial activity on the islands it serves. Perhaps the most significant indicator of how
CalMac supports activity in the island economies is indicated in Chart 3, which details the
number of commercial vehicles carried by CalMac ferries. On average, the company
transported 95,415 commercial vehicles per annum over the period. Items exported from the
islands include food and drink products, notably high value exports such as whisky and
shellfish, both of which contribute significantly to total Scottish exports.
CalMac’s commercial activity also involves imports to the islands, and is likely to cover the
majority of items sold by local retailers3, including fuel, food, mail, medical supplies, oil, gas,
and utilities, without which it would be difficult to maintain an acceptable quality of life on the
islands.
CalMac is not the sole means of transporting goods and services – others include the Skye Bridge, air services provided by
companies such as LoganAir and some bulk goods are carried by tanker or by barge. Tourists can also access the islands
from cruise ships and by private yachts.
3
Chart 3 - Commercial Vehicles Carried
102,000
99,603
100,000
99,219
98,000
95,674
96,000
94,000
92,673
92,589
92,734
2013
2014
92,000
90,000
88,000
2009
2010
2011
2012
Economic Impact - Scotland
Table 1 below details CalMac’s total economic impact on Scotland, in terms of the number of
jobs and the total amount of both wages and turnover it supports across Scotland as a whole 4.
The company’s total economic impact is the sum of what are termed its direct, indirect and
induced impacts. The direct effect results from its ongoing business operations in providing
ferry services - for example, the company employs 1,476 people, and this measures the
company’s direct effect on employment in Scotland.
Secondly, however, in order to support these ongoing business operations, CalMac will pay
wages to its employees, and it will also purchase goods and services, some proportion of
which will be spent on goods and services produced by other companies located in Scotland.
Two further additional economic effects result from these wage and supplier expenditures, in
both cases because the recipients of CalMac’s initial spending will then re-spend the monies
paid by the company. The first, known as the induced impact, occurs because employees will
spend wages and salaries on other goods and services produced in Scotland. The second
effect (indirect impact) results because CalMac’s suppliers will in turn spend money on staff
and on other goods and services produced in Scotland. This re-expenditure of the initial
payments made by CalMac therefore means that the total amount of economic activity created
is greater than the initial amount created directly at CalMac itself. The company’s total
economic impact on Scotland is measured by the sum of the direct, induced and indirect
impacts.
Table1 details these total impacts and shows that CalMac, which employs 1,407 people
directly, is estimated to support a total of 5,689 Full-Time Equivalent (FTE) jobs across
Scotland as a whole. The £41.23 million paid to its Scottish employees support a total of £85.8
million worth of wages in Scotland and CalMac also supports more than a quarter of a billion
worth of turnover at companies based in Scotland5.
4
Cal Mac actually employs 1,476 people, but 69 employees live outside Scotland, and so have been excluded from the
estimates of its Scottish impacts.
5
The estimates in Table 1 are based on Scottish Government figures published in the Scottish Input Output Tables, available
at http://www.gov.scot/Topics/Statistics/Economy/Input-Output.
Table 1 - Economic Impact of CalMac on Scotland
Employment
Cal Mac Employment
Additional Jobs supported by Cal Mac in Scotland
Total Jobs supported by Cal Mac in Scotland
Wages (£ million)
Cal Mac Wages
Additional Wages supported by Cal Mac in Scotland
Total Wages supported by Cal Mac in Scotland
Turnover (£ million)
Cal Mac Turnover
Additional Turnover supported by Cal Mac in Scotland
Total Turnover supported by Cal Mac in Scotland
1,407
4,282
5,689
41.2
44.7
85.8
145.0
124.8
269.8
The estimates in Table 1 detail CalMac’s considerable impact on Scotland – for example, the
1,407 CalMac employees are estimated to support a further 4,282 jobs in other industries in
Scotland.
The Scottish Government figures used to develop the estimates in Table 1 show that, out of
123 Scottish industrial sectors, the CalMac’s sector (Water Transport) sector has the 4th
highest employment multiplier. One reason for this is that the average wage paid to CalMac
employees is significantly above the average Scottish wage, meaning that employees are
likely to spend more than the average Scottish employee. Table 2 below details that the
average wage paid to workers at CalMac is just over 12% higher than the Scottish average.
Table 2 - Average Wage, CalMac and Scotland, 2014 (£)
Cal Mac
Scotland*
% Cal Mac above Scotland
29,683
26,472
12.1
* Scottish figure from “Earnings in Scotland" Scottish Parliament Information Centre, available at
http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/ResearchBriefingsAndFactsheets/S4/SB_14-01.pdf.
Table 3 below also details that the jobs provided at CalMac tend to be long term - on average,
each employee has spent 13.6 years with the company and its employees have a total of
more than 20,000 years of experience.
Table 3 - CalMac employee experience
Average number of years served
Total number of years served (all current employees)
Longest serving employee has 49 years servce - joined
535 employees (36.2% of total) have been with Cal Mac for at least 15 years
13.6
20,072
1965
CalMac - Economic Impact by area in Scotland
Later sections of this report focus on CalMac’s supports economic activity in “fragile” areas in
Scotland, particularly in island communities, and we focus on these areas below. However,
while CalMac is of considerable importance in a number of the smaller lifeline communities,
(see below), Table 4 below shows that the company has employees throughout Scotland Table 5 details the position regarding wage payments. For example, CalMac has a significant
number of employees in Ayrshire (165 employees) 6 and in Glasgow (120 employees). The
company also provides a large number of jobs in Inverclyde (169) where its headquarters are
based.
Not surprisingly, CalMac does have a significant concentration of employees in the local
authority areas where it sails - for example, 43.47% of all employees are in Argyll & Bute,
Comhairle nan Eilean Siar and the Highlands, and Table 5 shows that it injects a significant
level of wages into each. In Inverclyde, where its headquarters are based, it employs 169
people8 and pays out an annual £ 5.182 worth of wages (see Table 5).
6
The majority of these employees are based at Ardrossan in North Ayrshire.
7
Excluding those living outside Scotland.
8
An estimated 64 of these live in Gourock alone.
Table 4 - CalMac employees by
Local Authority Area
Argyll & Bute
Comhairle nan Eilean Siar
Highlands
Inverclyde
Ayrshire
Other Scotland
Outside Scotland
282
184
175
169
165
432
69
1,476
Total
Table 5 - CalMac wage payments by
Local Authority Area
Argyll & Bute
Comhairle nan Eilean Siar
Highlands
Inverclyde
Ayrshire
Other Scotland
Outside Scotland
£ million
Total
8.15
5.12
4.27
5.18
4.97
13.5
2.33
43.5
CalMac - Support for economic activity in lifeline areas
The analysis in Table 1 has shown that CalMac has a considerable impact on Scotland as a
whole - most notably that its activities support almost 6,000 Scottish jobs. We now focus on
another aspect of its how it affects local economic activity in Scotland, particularly how it
supports activity in “lifeline” communities on the Scottish islands9.
We assess CalMac’s impact through two channels. For the four local authorities which contain
the majority of island communities (Argyll & Bute, Ayrshire, Comhairle nan Eilean Siar and the
Highlands), we firstly measure CalMac’s employment on the islands.10 Secondly, we also
estimate the employment supported by wage spending by CalMac employees in these
communities. By summing both, we can then assess the extent to which employment in lifeline
communities depends on CalMac spending.
Argyll & Bute
Table 6 shows how the company’s employment is distributed across communities in Argyll &
Bute, including seven small island areas, and the number of jobs supported by employee
spending.
Table 6 - CalMac employment
- Argyll & Bute Local areas
Coll
Colonsay
Direct
Employment
Supported
Employment
Total
Employment
3
3
0.5
0.3
3.5
3.3
Gigha
Islay
Mull
5
17
29
1.8
3.4
9.2
6.8
20.4
38.2
Oban
Tiree
Campbeltown
Bute
71
6
18
34
24.5
1.3
7.2
11.5
95.5
7.3
25.2
45.5
9
We focus mainly on the islands, but Tables 6 and 7 shows that it also provides considerable support for some mainland
communities, most notably in Oban.
10
. Only four other local authority areas in Scotland (Fife, Stirling and West Dunbartonshire and Perth & Kinross) contain
islands and the estimated island population across all four is only twelve people. Information from “Census day estimates of
population and households on Scotland's inhabited islands, 2001 to 2011.” Scottish Census, 2011.
Table 7 sums up the extent to which employment in these areas depends on the jobs provided
by CalMac, both CalMac’s own employment and through employee wage spending.
The table demonstrates that CalMac is in many cases an important component of the local
economy, even in areas where it employs relatively few people. For example, Coll has a
population of only 195 people, and we estimate that there are a total of only 90 jobs on the
island –CalMac employees therefore account for 1 one in every 26 jobs on Coll. Other islands,
notably Gigha and Colonsay, are even more dependent on the jobs provided by CalMac. The
company also provides one in every 34 jobs on Mull, and is also of considerable importance to
the local economy in Oban, where one in every 48 employees is supported by CalMac, either
directly or through wage spending by CalMac employees.
Table 7 - Local reliance on CalMac jobs,
Argyll & Bute
Coll - jobs at Cal Mac account for 1 job in every:
26
Colonsay - jobs at Cal Mac account for 1 job in every:
17
Gigha - jobs at Cal Mac account for 1 job in every:
11
Islay - jobs at Cal Mac account for 1 job in every:
73
Mull - jobs at Cal Mac account for 1 job in every:
34
Oban - jobs at Cal Mac account for 1 job in every:
48
Tiree - jobs at Cal Mac account for 1 job in every:
41
Campbeltown - jobs at Cal Mac account for 1 job in every:
118
Bute - jobs at Cal Mac account for 1 job in every:
66
Comhairle nan Eilean Siar
Table 8 details CalMac jobs in local areas in Comhairle nan Eilean Siar and Table 9 shows the
extent to which the island areas depend on jobs at CalMac.
Table 8 - CalMac employment
- Comhairle nan Eilean Siar
Barra
Harris and Lewis
North Uist
South Uist
Eriskay
Direct
Employment
Supported
Employment
Total
Employment
35
105
11
36
46
141
16
19
4
6
20
25
3
1
4
CalMac also makes a significant contribution to island economies in Comhairle nan Eilean
Siar, even in areas where it employs relatively few people. This is very apparent in Barra,
which has a population of only 1,147 people and where the 46 jobs supported by CalMac
accounts for 1 in every 12 jobs. On Eriskay, which has a population of only 143 people, the
four CalMac employees’ represent 1 in every 16 jobs. On both North Uist (population of
1,254) and South Uist (1,754), CalMac supports 1 in every 28 and 33 jobs respectively.
Despite the relatively large number of employees (105), the dependence estimate for Harris
and Lewis (CalMac supports 1 in every 66 jobs) is smaller than on other islands because this
is a much larger area with a population of 21,031.
Table 9 - Local reliance on CalMac jobs,
Comhairle nan Eilean Siar
Barra - jobs at Cal Mac account for 1 job in every:
12
Harris and Lewis - jobs at Cal Mac account for 1 job in every:
66
North Uist - jobs at Cal Mac account for 1 job in every:
28
South Uist - jobs at Cal Mac account for 1 job in every:
33
Eriskay - jobs at Cal Mac account for 1 job in every:
16
Highlands
The company’s only significant employment on island communities in the Highlands is on
Skye and Eigg. Skye is, in the present context, a relatively large island with a population of
10,008 and where CalMac has only 24 employees, so the estimate for dependency - jobs at
CalMac account for only 1 job in every 154 – is relatively small.
However, the situation is very different for Eriskay – which has a population of only 83 – where
CalMac supports 1 job in every 9 jobs through direct employment and associated employee
spending.
Table 10 - CalMac employment
- Highlands
Direct
Employment
Skye
Eigg
Supported
Employment
24
4
Total
Employment
7
1
31
5
Table 11 - Local reliance on CalMac jobs,
Highlands
Skye - jobs at Cal Mac account for 1 job in every:
154
Eigg - jobs at Cal Mac account for 1 job in every:
9
Ayrshire
Table 12 details the position in Ayrshire – CalMac only has island employees on Arran, and
supports a total of 17 jobs on the island, an estimated 1 in every 120 local jobs (Table 13)
Table 12 - Local reliance on CalMac jobs,
Ayrshire
Arran - jobs at Cal Mac account for 1 job in every:
120
Inverclyde
Cal Mac’s HQ is based in Inverclyde and the company is a major employer in the area –Table
13 shows that it employs 169 people directly and supports the employment of a total of 262
local residents once the effect of wage spending by its employees is taken into account. Table
14 shows our estimate of its importance within the Inverclyde economy, that it supports 1 in
every 136 local jobs
Table 13 - CalMac employment
Direct
Supported
Total
- Inverclyde
Employment
Employment
Employment
169
93.4
262.4
Table 14 - Local reliance on CalMac jobs,
Inverclyde
Inverclyde - jobs at Cal Mac account for 1 job in every:
136
Further evidence of the importance of Cal Mac to the Inverclyde economy can also be shown
from figures for Inverclyde11. Chart 4 below shows one indicator of Inverclyde’s performance in
terms of unemployment – despite a considerable narrowing from 2013, the unemployment rate
in Inverclyde has consistently been higher than the Scottish average in recent years 12.
11
The figures in Chart 4 show the percentage of economically active residents who were unemployed.
12
We discuss Cal Mac’s local spending at companies in Inverclyde below.
Unemployment Rate (%)
Chart 4 - Unemployment, Inverclyde, Scotland
14
11.9
12
11.0
Inverclyde
Scotland
10
8.2
8
7.7
8.2
8.0
7.9
7.7
7.5
6.6
6
4
2
0
2010
2011
2012
2013
2014
Source: National Online Manpower Information Statistics (NOMIS)
Inverclyde’s relatively poor economic performance also affects average pay in the area. Table
15 shows that it ranks 21st out of 31 Scottish Local Authorities13 and that average pay in
Inverclyde is 12% below the Scottish average.
Cal Mac data shows that the average pay for Cal Mac employees in Inverclyde is £30,660,
around 36% above the Inverclyde average. For employees at the company’s HQ in Gourock,
Cal Mac estimates average pay at £35,060, 56% higher than in Inverclyde as a whole. Indeed,
HQ employees earn 3.2% more than those employed in the highest paid areas of Scotland
(Aberdeen City).
13
The data source did not report figures for one local authority (East Lothian).
Table 15 -Annual Pay, Local Authority
Scotland (2104)
Aberdeen City
City of Edinburgh
Glasgow City
South Ayrshire
Dundee City
Renfrewshire
Shetland Islands
North Lanarkshire
Aberdeenshire
Falkirk
Stirling
Midlothian
West Lothian
Argyll and Bute
South Lanarkshire
Highland
North Ayrshire
West Dunbartonshire
Perth and Kinross
Fife
Inverclyde
Dumfries and Galloway
East Dunbartonshire
Moray
Clackmannanshire
Orkney Islands
East Ayrshire
Scottish Borders
Angus
Eilean Siar
East Renfrewshire
Scotland
33,973
30,419
27,244
26,157
25,571
25,491
25,298
24,695
24,343
24,084
23,824
23,465
23,411
23,388
23,291
23,053
22,762
22,744
22,705
22,642
22,539
22,531
22,267
21,807
21,292
20,769
20,702
20,546
20,510
20,166
19,138
25,584
Source: Annual Survey of hours and earnings, 2014 (Table 7.7a Annual pay - Gross (£) - For
all employee jobs: United Kingdom, 2014
Orkney
We estimate that the total of 112 jobs supported by Cal Mac (Table 15) on Orkney represents
around 1 in every 100 local jobs (Table 16).
Table 15 - CalMac employment
- Orkney
Direct
Employment
Supported
Employment
73
Total
Employment
39.3
112.3
Table 16 - Local reliance on CalMac jobs,
- Orkney
Orkney - jobs at Cal Mac account for 1 job in every:
101
Shetland
Using a similar process, we calculate that the 20 Cal Mac jobs on Shetland support a total of
30.6 jobs once jobs supported by employee spending is taken into account, representing
around 0.25% of all employment on Shetland.
Supplier Spending
The analysis above estimates the employment supported by CalMac directly by CalMac
employees and by employee wage spending. Additionally, the company will provide further
support for local jobs local through its supplier spending. However, data was not available to
allow us to estimate the employment on island communities supported by spending at
suppliers. Table 17 below details some of the local communities where CalMac supports
significant local spending.
Table 17 - CalMac Supplier spending (£M)
Local Areas
Bute
0.584
Mull
0.138
Oban
1.231
Lewis and Harris
2.130
Barra
0.296
Skye
0.154
Supplier Spending in Inverclyde
We were able to obtain more detail on Cal Mac’s supplier spending in Inverclyde where its HQ
is located. Total supplier spending in Inverclyde is estimated at £22.91 million. A significant
amount of this (£18.9 million) is paid to Caledonian Maritime Assets Ltd (CMAL) and is spent
on maintaining marine assets such as vessels and the land and property around piers and
harbours. The remaining £4.03 million is spent at other local companies – in 2014, Cal Mac
purchased supplies from 49 firms based in Inverclyde.
In total, Cal Mac injected more than £9 million (£9.21 million) into the Inverclyde economy in
2014, including both wage payments to local residents and supply purchases from companies
based in Inverclyde14.
14
Excluding the £18.9 million paid to CMAL.
CalMac- Effect on Island Tourism
Tables 18 and 19 below use another method of assessing impact, termed enabled impact.
This method has been developed by the New Economics Foundation (NEF), who have
employed it to assess the impact of the Crown Estate15. NEF define enabled impact in terms
of the activities carried out on the Crown Estate’s properties by its customers and argues that
the Estate therefore enables these activities to take place. An equivalent measure for CalMac
would be the extent to which it enables tourists to travel to the islands.
While it may be possible in some instances to argue about the validity of this measure –for
example, many of the Crown Estate’s commercial activities could presumably take place
elsewhere - CalMac clearly does directly enable tourism to the islands which it sails since the
majority of travellers would be unable to visit the islands unless CalMac transported them.
On many of the company’s major routes, passengers are not required to state the purpose of
their journey, and it was therefore not possible to obtain detailed figures on the number of
passengers who use CalMac for tourist purposes. Cal Mac’s own passenger data, however,
suggests that tourists do account for a very significant proportion of all travellers. For example,
Table 18 below shows one example of how passenger numbers varied by month in 2014.
Assuming that January represents a low season figure for tourists while July is high season, it
is very clear that a significant proportion of all passengers are visitors to the island –
passenger number in July are 541,236 more than in January, when Cal Mac carried more than
four times as many passengers in July16.
Table 18
CalMac passenger numbers by month, 2014
January 2014
164,136
July 2014
705,372
. “The Total Contribution of The Crown Estate 2011/12, Report on methodologies”. New Economics Foundation (nef
consulting), May 2013. Available at http://www.thecrownestate.co.uk/media/403523/total-contribution-report-onmethodologies.pdf
15
16
We have obtained figures back to 2007, and the pattern shown in Table 18 is similar in all years. A similar picture also
applies to the number of cars and coaches transported – indeed, the number of coaches carried in July 204 was more than 11
(10.7) times greater than the number carried in January of that year.
Given, however, the uncertainty regarding the number of tourists, we have used what we fell is
a very conservative assumption regarding the number of tourists, which is that only 30% of all
Cal Mac passengers use the service for tourism. The estimates in Tables 19 and 20 are based
on this estimate (that 30% of all passengers are tourists) and on visitor spending figures
published by VisitScotland.17,18. The extent to which the tourist economy on the islands
depends on CalMac is clearly very substantial, amounting to an estimated 3,247 jobs and over
£53 million worth of wages.
Table 19 - Employment in Tourism
by CalMac - Island areas
Enabled
£ million
Accommodation
1,214
Eating/Drinking out
Retail
748
694
Recreation/Culture
590
Total
Table 20 - Wages in Tourism
by CalMac - Island areas
3,247
Enabled
£ million
Accommodation
18.1
Eating/Drinking out
Retail
11.5
14.2
Recreation/Culture
9.6
Total
53.4
VisitScotland, “Key facts on tourism”, available at
http://www.visitscotland.org/pdf/VS%20Insights%20Key%20Facts%202013.pdf.Scotland
17
18
The estimates in Tables take account of both day-trippers and tourists who stayed on accommodation in the islands while
visiting.
Performance
Tables 21A and 21B below detail two measures of CalMac’s recent performance. Table 21A
details its time keeping record in 2013, during which time 86.4% of sailings arrived on time and
94% of sailings arrived within 15 minutes. Table 21B shows, also for 2013, that the majority of
late sailings, an estimated 83.5%, occurred for reasons outwith CalMac's control, and were
mostly due to weather-related problems.
Table 21 A- CalMac Performance (2013) Timekeeping
1-7 minutes late in arriving
5.5
8-14 minutes late in arriving
1.8
15-30 minutes late in arriving
1.4
31-45 minutes late in arriving
0.3
46-60 minutes late in arriving
0.1
Over 60 mins. late in arriving
0.2
Cancelled sailing
2.8
No delay (or arrived early)
86.4
Sailing returned to port
0.01
Diverted sailing
Additional sailing
0.2
1.3
Table 21 B - CalMac Performance (2013) Reasons for delayed sailings
Adverse weather
Late passengers or other traffic
40.4
18.1
Knock-on delay from extra sail
25.0
Other activities undertaken by CalMac
Marketing and Sponsorship
The extent to which CalMac enables tourism on the islands is discussed above. The company
also supports Visit Scotland and local Destination Marketing Organisations (DMOs) with
marketing activity designed to draw tourists to islands. Its main direct involvement is through
direct sponsorship of local cultural events and its recent involvement has been its support for
the “Best of the West” festival and its own “CalMac Culture Music” initiative.
Best of the West is an annual event which takes place at Inveraray Castle and showcases
local culture, hosting over 70 musicians, including local young talent, Gaelic musicians and
local pipe bands. The festival also provides a platform for local food and drink specialities and
the 2014 event featured over 20 whisky distilleries and local foods including Mull Cheese,
Inverawe Smokehouse salmons, Loch Fyne Oysters and Bute jams and chutneys. CalMac
has supported the festival for many years and took a silver package in 2014.
CalMac Culture Music was initiated by CalMac in 2014, when it designed, alongside three
local festivals (Hebridean Celtic Festival, Tiree Music Festival and the Best of the West
festival), a showcase for new local musicians who would be given a half hour slot on a
secondary stage at each festival. YouTube viewers were then encouraged through CalMac’s
social media channels to vote on their favourite performer, who could then win a chance to
perform at King Tut’s in Glasgow, and then perform at the each festival. The initiative was
designed as a platform for island culture and was promoted in 483 music establishments
throughout the central belt and received coverage in 28 local newspapers in Scotland. CalMac
also set up a CalMac Culture channel on YouTube (www.youtube.com/calmacculture).
Support for wider ferry infrastructure
CalMac advises Transport Scotland on a variety of fares issues and has also undertaken
research on behalf of Transport Scotland. The company has also provided a variety of reports
for Caledonian Maritime Assets Ltd, which maintains the port and harbour infrastructure in the
west coast of Scotland and the Clyde Estuary. CalMac has provided information on traffic
management plans, berthing arrangements and navigational risk and is scheduled to report an
appraisal of required long-term port infrastructure and is currently leading an appraisal of longterm vessel replacement needs. CalMac has also provided information to support the Scottish
Governments Ferries Plan on issues including integrated ticketing, and timetables.
Customer support and consultation
CalMac is required to consult with communities and attends all Hi-Trans (Highlands and
Islands Transport Partnership) user groups as well as other significant consultation with
community, council and other ferry groups. It has also operated a significant number of
additional non-timetabled sailings to meet demand, including over 1,000 additional Cumbrae
sailings. It works alongside the CFL the Transport Scotland resilience team to provide
assistance in cases of emergency.
The company has also supported commercial activity on the islands by creating travel
products alongside island - based partners, and helped promote these to travel companies.
Training and Apprenticeships
CalMac operates two apprenticeship programmes, the Cadet and Rating Training
Programmes. Apprentices are deck and engine apprentices, and CalMac currently has 20
people in this category. Training involves both college and seagoing aspects.
Cadets are officer rating trainees, and are not employed by CalMac, but are sponsored by
CalMac through a tripartite agreement with Clyde Marine and Northern Marine in Clydebank.
Cadets undergo a three - year training programme, involving both college and sea training.
CalMac sponsors 15 cadets per year and so will sponsor 45 cadets at any one time.
The Royal National Mòd
Finally, a key aspect of CalMac local contribution is its support for the Royal National Mòd.
The Mòd is organised by An Comunn Gàidhealach, which since 1891 has supported the
teaching, learning and use of the Gaelic language and the study and cultivation of Gaelic
literature, history, music and art. Through the the Royal National Mòd and a network of
provincial Mòds, An Comunn Gàidhealach supports the development of the Gaelic language,
culture and heritage at local, national and international levels. Caledonian MacBrayne has a
long association with Mòd and has been its principal commercial supporter since 2002.
Several trophies have been awarded in CalMac’s name over the years, most notably the
CalMac Cup for junior choirs. The Mòd also has a significant economic impact in the area
where it takes place, with an evaluation of the 2014 Mòd in Inverness suggesting that it may
have created as many as 135 jobs.