David MacBrayne Ltd, the parent company of Scotland's main ferry operators, NorthLink Ferries Ltd (NFL) and CalMac Ferries Ltd (CFL) is being restructured as part of its preparations for the re-tendering later this year of their current contracts which end in 2012 and 2013 respectively.

Under the proposed changes, which start to come into effect from April 1, 2009, the new DML Group's role will be to address policy and strategy matters, and a number of staff who provide support in areas like Finance will work across the group.

Chairman Peter Timms said: "These changes have been under consideration since the creation of NFL and CFL and are an essential part of our plans to ensure the group is in the best possible shape to win the next round of tenders. This is the latest stage of the process begun in 2006 when the then Caledonian MacBrayne was restructured in preparation for the Clyde & Hebrides Ferry Services tender, following our successful NorthLink bid to operate the Northern Isles services, and will allow us to concentrate on delivering the ferry services to the best of our ability for the remaining duration of the respective contracts."

As part of the restructure, Lawrie Sinclair, currently Managing Director of CalMac Ferries Ltd, will be appointed Group Chief Executive; CFL Operations Director, Philip Preston and NFL Chief Executive, Bill Davidson will be appointed Managing Directors of their respective companies. In addition, non-executive Director David McGibbon will be appointed Deputy Chairman of David MacBrayne Ltd.