Pentland hero - Roy N. Pedersen

Just before Christmas 2008, a brand new futuristic super efficient catamaran ferry arrived in Orkney. Her like had never been seen before in Scotland. She was Pentalina, flagship of Pentland Ferries, a private company owned by a quietly spoken Orkney farmer's son, Andrew Banks. The new ship is remarkable enough, but the story of how Andrew Banks was able to establish the long sought short sea crossing between Orkney and the Scottish mainland in the face of a concerted and sustained campaign to undermine his enterprise, by well funded public bodies, is on the one hand a miracle and on the other an outrage. With a tiny team of trusted colleagues and without a penny of public funds, Andrew Banks, a quietly spoken Orkney farmer's son, built terminals and started operating a new frequent, cheap, short route between Orkney and the Scottish mainland - all in the face of a concerted and sustained campaign to undermine his enterprise. This is the story of an idea and of the man who battled against the odds to make that idea a reality.