Glasgow Student Launches AdhairAlba To Connect Scottish Islands, Glasgow 2026

Key Points

• New Transport Venture Launched: Munro Stevenson, a student from City of Glasgow College, has founded AdhairAlba, an enterprise established to transform connectivity across Scotland’s islands and remote rural areas.
• Academic Progression: Stevenson developed the concept while completing his Higher National Diploma (HND) in Supply Chain Management and is now advancing his studies with a Bachelor of Arts (BA) in International Business.
• Personal Roots: Driven by personal family ties to the Isle of Harris, Stevenson experienced first-hand how reliant islanders are on resilient transport for basic services, healthcare, employment, and education.
• Innovative Technologies: AdhairAlba is evaluating low-emission, next-generation technologies—such as electric sea gliders alongside regional air and maritime integration—to deliver cleaner, more reliable, and more affordable connections.
• Dual Focus on Consultancy and Operations: In addition to testing transport concepts, AdhairAlba aims to offer specialised consultancy services to governments, local authorities, and transport operators to optimise public logistics systems.
• Core Philosophy: Guided by the belief that public transport should be treated as a fundamental right rather than a privilege for remote communities.

Glasgow (Glasgow Express) August 12, 2026 – A Glasgow student has launched a new transport venture aiming to improve connectivity across Scotland’s islands and remote communities. Munro Stevenson, who recently completed an HND in supply chain management at City of Glasgow College, founded AdhairAlba to explore innovative transport solutions across aviation, maritime, and land networks. Built upon personal experience of island isolation and academic training in supply chain infrastructure, the venture addresses long-standing infrastructure challenges across the Scottish Highlands and Islands by combining emerging zero-emission transit technologies with strategic transport consultancy.

Who is Munro Stevenson and what is the mission behind AdhairAlba?

AdhairAlba was conceived by Munro Stevenson as a direct response to the transport vulnerabilities facing remote regions of Scotland. Having maintained long-standing family connections to the Isle of Harris in the Outer Hebrides, Stevenson observed early in life how deeply transportation links dictate the daily rhythm and economic viability of island settlements. For island residents, transit connections represent far more than a convenience; they form an essential lifeline required to access routine medical care, pursue secondary and higher education, sustain local commerce, and maintain ties with relatives on the mainland.

Following his departure from secondary school, Stevenson entered the workforce before embarking on an extended period of solo international travel. While overseas, he suffered a serious illness that cut his journey short and required a lengthy recovery.

The experience refocused his career trajectory, inspiring him to channel his long-held fascination with logistics into practical solutions for Scottish infrastructure. Upon returning to Scotland, Stevenson enrolled at City of Glasgow College to gain formal qualifications in supply chain management, using his academic studies as a incubator for AdhairAlba.

The primary objective of AdhairAlba is to design transport frameworks that render travel across remote Scottish geographies substantially more affordable, environmentally sustainable, and operational in harsh weather conditions.

Stevenson operates the enterprise under a clear foundational principle: public transport must be treated as a fundamental public right rather than a luxury or non-essential service.

How did academic training at City of Glasgow College shape the venture?

The foundational concepts behind AdhairAlba were refined during Stevenson’s studies within the HND Supply Chain Management programme at City of Glasgow College. The course exposed him to complex network design, multi-modal freight logistics, and the regulatory frameworks governing regional transport systems. Rather than viewing transit sectors in isolation, Stevenson evaluated how aviation, maritime ferries, and overland road transportation interact within broader supply chains.

The curriculum encouraged students to examine how environmental sustainability, public funding models, and commercial operations intersect.

This cross-disciplinary approach led Stevenson to identify critical inefficiencies in traditional island transport, where ferry delays and flight cancellations frequently disrupt food distribution, medical supplies, and passenger travel simultaneously. Having completed his HND, Stevenson is now continuing his academic journey at City of Glasgow College, progressing to a Bachelor of Arts degree in International Business to further develop the commercial strategy and international network of AdhairAlba.

Through his academic tenure, Stevenson established working relationships with regional transport specialists, environmental campaigners, and logistics innovators across Scotland.

He credits the college environment with providing the technical knowledge, commercial rigour, and mentorship necessary to transition an academic project into an active transport development venture.

What innovative transport solutions is AdhairAlba exploring?

AdhairAlba is currently researching and evaluating next-generation, low-emission vehicular technologies tailored specifically to the challenging climate and geography of coastal Scotland. Among the primary innovations under assessment are sea gliders—hydrofoiling electric vessels that operate just above the water’s surface using ground-effect aerodynamics.

These craft offer high-speed regional transit over sea corridors at significantly lower operating costs and zero direct carbon emissions compared to conventional diesel ferries or short-haul coastal aircraft.

In addition to sea gliders, the venture is analyzing how small-scale electric and hybrid-electric aircraft could be deployed across island airfields, short-range ferry links could be synchronized with regional bus schedules, and decentralized distribution hubs could streamline cargo movement to peripheral towns.

Beyond operational hardware, AdhairAlba is structured to deliver public and private sector consultancy services. The organization intends to collaborate directly with municipal councils, Scottish transport authorities, private ferry firms, and community development trusts.

By offering data-driven logistics analysis and network optimization, AdhairAlba seeks to assist policymakers in designing resilient transit networks that reduce public subsidies while boosting service frequency and operational uptime.

What support and praise has the venture received from academic leadership?

The launch of AdhairAlba has drawn strong support from academic leaders at City of Glasgow College, who have monitored Stevenson’s development throughout his studies.

As stated by Alan McCorkindale, lecturer in Supply Chain Management at City of Glasgow College, Stevenson demonstrated exceptional initiative throughout his academic coursework:

“Munro is a driven, resilient and forward-thinking student whose passion for transport has been matched by a genuine commitment to improving communities. Throughout his HND Supply Chain Management studies at City of Glasgow College, he consistently demonstrated curiosity, creativity and entrepreneurial ambition. It has been a pleasure to support him in developing his ideas, and we’re proud to see how he continues to develop them.”

Academic staff highlighted that Stevenson’s work exemplifies the application of practical vocational training toward solving acute real-world economic and social challenges in Scotland.

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What is the background of the transport developments affecting Scotland’s islands?

The emergence of initiatives like AdhairAlba occurs against a backdrop of prolonged disruption across Scotland’s island transport infrastructure. For decades, the primary passenger and freight links connecting the inner and outer archipelagos to the mainland have relied on aging public ferry fleets and subsidized lifeline air routes.

In recent years, Scotland’s maritime transit network has faced significant operational challenges. The vessel fleet operated by state-owned CalMac Ferries has suffered frequent mechanical breakdowns due to aging ships, leading to unscheduled route cancellations, delayed deliveries of essential goods, and lost tourism revenue for local island businesses.

High-profile delays and budget overruns surrounding the construction of replacement dual-fuel vessels at Ferguson Marine in Port Glasgow have further exacerbated transport insecurity across communities in the Hebrides, Orkney, and Shetland.

Concurrently, regional aviation routes—which provide vital medical evacuation capabilities and rapid transit for island residents—face pressure from rising fuel prices, pilot shortages, and the urgent imperative to decarbonize domestic transport to meet national net-zero targets. Island hauliers and logistics providers have continually cautioned that conventional vessel designs and rigid timetable models fail to account for escalating severe weather events linked to climate change.

Consequently, public calls for decentralized, flexible, and sustainable alternative transport modes have intensified across the Highlands and Islands region.

How will this development affect Scottish island residents and remote communities in the future?

If successfully implemented, the transport models and consultancy frameworks introduced by AdhairAlba could substantially improve daily life and economic stability across Scotland’s island communities.

For local residents, the adoption of low-emission, highly adaptable transport options such as sea gliders and micro-aviation could offer more frequent, weather-resilient, and cost-effective travel options. Enhanced cross-island and island-to-mainland links would directly alleviate the geographic isolation that currently impacts rural healthcare delivery, allowing patients to reach mainland appointments without requiring overnight stays.

Similarly, improved transit schedules would expand educational and employment opportunities for young islanders who might otherwise be forced to relocate permanently to urban centers.

For small businesses, local agricultural producers, and tourism operators, more reliable freight and passenger routes would stabilize supply chains and reduce the overhead costs associated with missed deliveries and travel disruptions.

On a broader scale, AdhairAlba’s emphasis on zero-emission technologies aligns directly with Scotland’s net-zero ambitions, positioning remote island networks as testing grounds for sustainable transportation technologies that could ultimately be adopted across coastal communities worldwide.