MDive makes big splash at Family Business Awards
A company that provides diving services to Scottish salmon farmers has achieved quadruple success at the National Family Business Awards 2018.
MDive, based at Craignure, Mull was named Apprenticeship Champion for Scotland and followed that up by winning the overall UK and Ireland award in the same category.
And it received Big Heart awards for both Scotland and then the UK and Ireland for its support for community projects and charitable causes.
The awards were announced at a ceremony at London’s Wembley Stadium earlier this month.
MDive was founded in June 2013 by Murdo Smith and his fiancee Helen Dewar, with encouragement from Scottish Sea Farms, and now has around 20 staff.
It employs two teenage apprentices who are working as dive tenders supporting diving operations, and who will eventually become divers themselves.
Dewar said: “Recognition for the hard work and dedication that has been put in by all at MDive is not only a huge boost to team morale but also, we hope will encourage young would-be divers to join our apprenticeship scheme as their first step on an exciting career path.
“We are also delighted of course for our work in the community to be noticed with our ‘Big Heart’ awards. From the off the MDive ethos has very much been to give back to our stunning but rural island in whatever way we can, and we are proud to have been able to sustain that and are intent on continuing to do so.
“We are very fortunate to have an amazing bunch of employees throughout the company, whether in the office, on the surface, below the surface or on a boat and we are all very excited about the future for MDive and determined to continue to drive it forward successfully.”
Mooring inspections
The company carries out fish farm dives for Scottish Sea Farms, Marine Harvest and the Scottish Salmon Company. Its divers also undertake underwater welding, video surveys, hull cleaning, vessel and equipment salvage, and mooring inspections.
It carries out work on piers and in harbours, as well as in the renewable industry, such as wind farms and tidal energy initiatives.
MDive already has an impressive list of awards, including Herald awards for Rural Family Business 2015 and Commitment to the Community in 2017, an Investors in Young People accreditation awarded in 2016, ISO 9001-2015 certification, and an SCDI Crown Estate Award for Excellence in a Marine Business.
