CalMac has been named as Scottish Living Wage Champion for 2016.

In August 2015, the ferry operator became the UK’s first ferry company to gain Living Wage Foundation accreditation and also the first major transport operator in Scotland.

Indeed, CalMac remains the only UK ferry operator with Living Wage accreditation, which was earned by David MacBrayne Ltd – CalMac’s holding company – and extends to all areas of the business.

More than 600 companies and organisations in Scotland are Living Wage Foundation accredited, making up 3,000 employers across the UK as a whole. Only 27 of these are transport related.

The award was presented at the Living Wage Expo Conference in Glasgow by Director of The Poverty Alliance, Peter Kelly, and was received on behalf of David MacBrayne by CalMac’s Managing Director Martin Dorchester.

“We are extremely proud to receive this award,” said Martin. “Gaining Living Wage Foundation accreditation was very important to us. We already prided ourselves on paying more than the Living Wage across the board, but the accreditation was and, indeed, remains a long term commitment to our staff.

“We have led the way in our own industry and we hope that others will choose to follow."

The Minister for Employability and Training, Jamie Hepburn, said: “I would like to congratulate CalMac. The Scottish Government has long championed the payment of the real Living Wage, recognising the big difference it can make to the lives of people working in Scotland."

And CalMac, along with 600+ other Scottish companies and a total of around 3,000 across the UK, is one of those going above and beyond any basic statutory commitment by signing up to the Living Wage Foundation’s higher rates – also known as the Real Living Wage.

Set by the Living Wage Foundation its minimum level is now £8.45 per hour for anyone over 18 – it is already £1.25 per hour more than the National Living Wage.