Exclusive

By Scott Wright

THE Scottish ferry company that runs a frequent car and passenger service between Dunoon and Gourock has underlined the resilience it displayed in its most recent financial year, which saw profits and turnover dented chiefly because of the disruption brought by the pandemic.

New accounts for Western Ferries (Clyde) show that turnover at the company dipped to £6 million in the year to March 31, 2021, from £8.5m the year before. Profit before tax tumbled to £0.6m from £2.1m.

With Scotland placed in lockdown from Boxing Day 2020, and restrictions only beginning to ease from April this year, Western states in the accounts that its directors “consider this to be a reasonable result having regard to the market in which the company operates”.

Western Ferries owns four vessels and operates a short crossing between Hunter’s Quay in Dunoon and McInroy’s Point in Gourock every 20 minutes, linking the central belt with the Cowal Peninsula and the west coast of Scotland. The company, which employs about 70 people, usually operates with three vessels at any one time to allow for regular boat maintenance, but can run a four-ferry service at times of high demand.

Following year-end, the company benefited from the surge in staycations and visitors to the area after restrictions lifted, albeit the Cowal Highland Gathering that usually takes place in August was cancelled again. It has also seen demand spike in recent months with the periodic closure of the Rest and Be Thankful road because of persistent problems with landslides.

However, more recently the company has been affected by the emergence of the Omicron variant, which has seen measures introduced by ministers to suppress the spread of the virus.

Reflecting on the latest accounts, managing director Gordon Ross told The Herald that the company’s top priority throughout the period had been “doing everything we can for the safety of our employees” while following Covid protocols.

He said: “That was the focus of 2021. We’ve come through that and I’m delighted. We haven’t escaped Covid, but we got through it.”

Mr Ross said the company had been supported through the period by the furlough scheme, and had also been helped by a strong domestic tourism market in a “very good” late summer of 2020.

While Western becomes a vital service for Dunoon, Cowal and the west coast during the “perennial” problems on the Rest and Be Thankful, Mr Ross said he takes no pleasure from the problems that beset the road. “Any perception of disruption is bad for the whole area, and anything that is bad for the area on a long-term basis is bad for Western Ferries,” he said.

But Mr Ross noted that with four vessels and four linkspans – two in both Hunter’s Quay and McInroy’s Point – Western has “great flexibility to jump and accelerate the service”.

“During lockdown, we were providing 36 sailings at day, then at one point in July, when the Rest and Be Thankful was closed, we provided almost 140 sailings a day,” he said.

“I don’t think there is any other ferry company in Scotland that has that resilience, that flexibility. That is on the basis of our investment policy on the shore side and in marine assets.”

Western has kept its capital expenditure plans on hold since the pandemic struck, with the focus remaining firmly on safety while the pandemic persists.

Mr Ross said: “We had a board meeting in February 2020, where I had a number of development and diversification projects involving capital spend, not solely with regard to the Gourock-Dunoon route. But as soon as lockdown happened, the focus was on employees and keeping us going through very uncertain times.

“In March 2020, nobody knew [what] the future was going to be. There were some projects that were put on the shelf. We are starting to dust them off, but then again we have had this latest outbreak so we will just have to see what happens through that.”

Mr Ross revealed the next major investment at Western was likely to be on new vessels. He said the design of its current vessels was ideal for the route they operate, but noted that the “unknown quantity” will be the kind of fuel they will run on as the world bids to tackle climate change.

“I don’t think there is a settled way forward yet for our type of service,” Mr Ross noted. “You have gas, you have electricity, you have hydrogen, there are all these various options. We are very much waiting to see what the solution is going forward. There is no urgency – our oldest boat is only 20 years old, which is still very young in comparison to other companies. But we would be hoping to replace them in the next four or five years.”

He added: “Western Ferries is a small company. We have invested in four new berthing structures, four new linkspans and four new boats since 2001. We just finished a new office building and moved into that in October 2021. It’s been a long process but the benefit with regards to resilience are obvious to our customers.”