It has been another month in which ferry operator Caledonian MacBrayne has never been far from the headlines.

We have become accustomed in recent years to plenty of politicking around CalMac, which is owned by the Scottish Government, and the ferry operator has not had its troubles to seek. However, it remains crucial amid the frequent storms around CalMac, especially given some of these are whipped up by people with political axes to grind and/or entrenched ideology around private versus state ownership, to remember the many positives when it comes to the ferry operator.

CalMac’s staff know the island communities they serve well. The ferry operator and its employees have great experience of the complex network of routes that they operate.

And we must not underestimate the stability provided by state ownership.

If anyone is in any doubt about this, they can take a look at some of the chaos that has arisen from UK rail privatisation. ScotRail has, of course, since been renationalised, and is now in the hands of the Scottish Government.

The political controversy around CalMac has, obviously, extended to the Ferguson Marine shipyard in Port Glasgow, now also owned by the Scottish Government, and specifically the delay in the two ferries being built there for CalMac and major cost overruns on these.

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Disruptions to ferry services arising from operational issues stemming from CalMac’s ageing fleet have been a regular feature in recent years.

However, news early last month of Robbie Drummond’s departure as chief executive, with immediate effect, came somewhat out of the blue.

My analysis on this unexpected development, in the immediate wake of its announcement, observed: “Operational performance of the CalMac fleet, and ‘dialogue’ with and ‘responsiveness’ to communities were outlined by the board as key priorities as it revealed it had undertaken a review to ensure its executive leadership was best placed to achieve these aims.”

CalMac said Mr Drummond was stepping down “as part of that review”, my article noted. He has been replaced on an interim basis by a former officer in the Royal Marines. The ferry operator said Duncan Mackison, former chief executive of CalMac holding company David MacBrayne Ltd, had been “appointed interim CEO until a permanent successor has been appointed”.

Among other eye-catching news in the last month has been Japanese fashion retailer UNIQLO’s opening of its first Scottish store, with Edinburgh’s Princes Street chosen as the location for this.

When UNIQLO announced the April 25 opening date for the store, it declared that its “arrival marks the regeneration of the shopping scene in Scotland’s capital”.

My column on UNIQLO’s Scottish debut in The Herald last month observed that, while this seemed like a particularly bold claim, the assertion did not really on contemplation seem over the top at all.

The article observed: “These are truly miserable times, amid the cost of living crisis and a UK economic malaise that has been going on for so long. And the opening of the first Scottish store of an innovative international brand such as UNIQLO is worthy of excitement.”

Among other highlights in the last month, there was good news on the Scottish economic front, in Royal Bank of Scotland’s latest purchasing managers’ index (PMI) report.

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Among the 12 nations and regions of the UK, Scotland was placed third in the growth stakes in March, with only London and Northern Ireland faring better.

The headline business activity index for Scotland – a seasonally adjusted measure of the month-on-month change in the combined output of manufacturing and services – rose from 52.1 in February to 53.6 in March to signal the fastest expansion in 11 months. A reading greater than 50 signals expansion. Of course, in these febrile political times, it often seems that good news on the Scottish economy divides opinion.

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My column on the PMI report concluded: “For anyone who genuinely wants Scotland to have a strong economy with all the benefits for living standards that brings, regardless of their constitutional views, the PMI report should provide some encouragement.

“For those who would rather see Scotland fail, the nation’s outperformance on key measures in this survey might come as an annoyance.”

This article was first published in The Herald's Business HQ Monthly supplement