CALMAC’S Managing Director has announced a u-turn and will stay on in his post - just four months after announcing he would be leaving.

Martin Dorchester, CEO of the David MacBrayne Group and MD for Calmac, will remain in charge of the company which runs ferry services across Scotland, including the Ardrossan to Brodick route.

In October 2016, he made the announcement that, with CalMac having been awarded the Clyde and Hebrides Ferry Services (CHFS) contract, he felt the time was right to seek new challenges and that he would leave the company at the end of March this year.

Speaking about the decision to stay, Martin said: “Towards the end of last year, I announced my intention to leave my position as CEO of David MacBrayne and MD of CalMac at the end of March 2017.

“Having secured the CHFS contract for the next eight years, as well as the 35-year concession to run Marchwood Military Port in Hampshire as a joint venture, I felt it was time to move on to new challenges.

“As you will all be aware, Transport Minister Humza Yousaf announced last week that the government will be undertaking a review of Scottish ferry services. This review would potentially remove the requirement to put ferry services out to tender, and the management structures of David MacBrayne Limited (DML) and Caledonian Maritime Assets Limited.

“Having discussed the challenges and opportunities presented by this review with the DML Board and with the Transport Minister, I have taken the decision to stay in my current post.”