CalMac stars are nominated for prestigious awards

A pair of CalMac colleagues – as well as a campaign run by the ferry operator to promote Scotland’s stunning west coast - have been nominated for prestigious industry awards.

Maxine Tait and Selby Khumalo, who are both training specialists, are in the running for Frontline Employee of the Year at the Scottish Transport Awards 2025. They have been recognised for their ability to deliver excellent training to staff during the implementation of a new digital booking process, helping colleagues to build confidence and security in the new system.

And CalMac’s major tourism marketing campaign, “Every journey starts a story”, has been shortlisted in two categories at The Marketing Society STAR awards, and in the Transport Award’s Excellence in Travel Information and Marketing category. It has led to a direct increase in travel bookings and in brand reputation and knowledge.

The campaign, which was developed by creative partners Stand, features enticing content from social media travel influencers to highlight the best that the islands and west coast has to offer.

These latest nominations were announced following the news that a CalMac podcast, produced by CalMac, Scottish Island Adventures, has been shortlisted for a prestigious Radio Academy ARIAS award – one of the highest accolades in the UK audio and radio industry.

Diane Burke, CalMac’s Chief Operating Officer, said: “Maxine and Selby are a credit to CalMac, they have a natural affinity for supporting and guiding colleagues. Their dedicated work in setting up and delivering our training centre, the Centre of Excellence, has played a pivotal role in its success. The knock-on effect of this success has been an increase in CalMac’s customer satisfaction scores, for which we are very grateful.”

Peter Griffiths, Head of Brand Marketing, added: “The campaign and podcast are both outperforming expectations, it’s a lovely addition to that success to have them shortlisted for these awards. We look forward to seeing how they perform against some pretty formidable competition.”

 

The ARIAS ceremony is being held in London on 14 May, while the Marketing Society STAR awards take place in Glasgow on 12 June. The Scottish Transport Awards are also taking place in Glasgow on 19 June.