After six years in charge of west coast ferry operator CalMac, which ended in a somewhat abrupt manner in April, it may have been expected that Robbie Drummond would take a bit of time before deciding his next move. Not so.

It was announced this week that Mr Drummond, who left CalMac after a review which followed “real challenges” on the ferry network, has taken up a senior post with McGill’s Buses.

The chartered accountant’s surprise appointment as finance director and company secretary of the Greenock-based firm came as part of a wider shake-up of its leadership team, which also saw long-term chief executive Ralph Roberts step down to become chairman and replaced by Tony Williamson, formerly of Arriva. Former McGill’s chairman and co-owner James Easdale will remain as a director of the business, alongside brother Sandy.

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Perhaps the scrutiny of the bus industry will not be quite as intense as that faced by Mr Drummond over the faltering performance of CalMac’s ferry fleet, but the sector does face challenges. For one, McGill’s is currently fighting plans to take bus services back under local control and introduce a franchising system in the west of Scotland, and has made plain the need to ease congestion and improve the condition of the road network.

“The bus industry is facing change and McGill’s wants to continue working with local partners to ensure the highest quality provision for passengers,” Mr Drummond said on his appointment this week. “I know from my time in the transport sector that McGill’s has invested heavily to grow from a regional business to become a major operator in the UK and I look forward to working with the owners, Ralph, Tony and the senior team to enable best performance, deliver strong governance and ensure future success for the years ahead.”

Elsewhere, it was a busy week on the reporting front for Scotland’s major listed companies, and it was fair to say it was a mixed bag.

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Scotch whisky giant Diageo revealed it was feeling the impact of continuing “macroeconomic and geopolitical volatility” and slowing sales in one of its biggest markets. Shares in the Johnnie Walker distiller fell sharply on Tuesday after the company reported a significant fall in sales in Latin America and the Caribbean, where customers are continuing to work through stock ordered in the boom time that immediately followed the pandemic.

The company, which employs around 3,000 people in Scotland, reported a 4.8% fall in operating profits to $6bn as sales for the year to June declined 0.6% to $20.3bn. However, speaking to The Herald, Diageo’s president of global supply and procurement, Ewan Andrew, held up sales of Guinness as a bright spot. In Europe, strong sales of the black stuff, including 5% net sales growth in Britain, helped to fuel 18% growth in beer sales and 12% sales growth overall for the region.

“We used to run a ‘Guinness is good for you’ campaign – and we’ve seen in these results that Guinness has also been good for Diageo,” Mr Andrew said.

The brand has seen double-digit percentage growth globally for seven consecutive years. “It's a high-quality premium drink,” Mr Andrew added. “But it's still actually very affordable.”

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Meanwhile, the stock market was impressed with the outlook at Weir Group. The Glasgow engineering giant, which supplies parts and original equipment to the global mining industry, reported a 3% fall in pre-tax profits to £165m for six months ended June 30 and downgraded revenue expectations for the year, citing “macroeconomic and geopolitical tension”.

However, the company flagged its expectations of higher margins for the full year and its growing pipeline of orders.

Speaking to The Herald, chief executive Jon Stanton hailed the “resilience” of Weir’s after-market business, following a second quarter which saw “probably more moving parts than I have seen for a long while, in terms of specific mine closures and some regions affected by conflicts”.

Mr Stanton said: “I’m delighted we were able to grow our after-market orders by 2% and, on the projects side, we are highlighting that, finally, after talking about projects being slow to convert, we are now starting to see some larger projects moving ahead.”

New business won recently by Weir include a £53m contract awarded in July for a greenfield mine in southern Asia, which will utilise Weir’s high-pressure grinding rolls.

AG Barr was also able to deliver an upbeat message to the City. The Cumbernauld-based soft drinks maker reported a “highly successful” advert for Irn-Bru linked to the Scotland’s men’s football team and Euro 2024 as it flagged expectations of achieving a 5% rise in sales to around £221m for the six months to the end of July. The firm also said it was growing its market share in England in what was the first update to the City under new chief executive Euan Sutherland.