A certain supermarket maintains that "every little helps". Now it seems that our new national train operator is happy to take on board the spirit of its mantra, writes Ken Mann. 

Applying a convenient marketing line to the railway line, Abellio - the Dutch-based train and bus contractor that took over the running of the £6 billion ScotRail franchise on Wednesday - has announced several points of interest to specific groups of commuters, and its own staff.

In relieving Aberdeen-headquartered First Group of its duties (all employees from the outgoing franchisee transferred to the incoming operator), I understand that Abellio has added some economical city-tocity fares, lowered the age threshold for the previous 55+ special concession to the 50-plus brigade and - grabbing most of the limelight - free travel for Jobseekers attending interviews. If any of the latter group is offered and accept a post, they'll get free rail travel for a month.

Doubtless there will be caveats. When a new broom arrives, we expect a raft of changes designed to recapture the imagination. The Scottish travelling public - many of whom are occupying a carriage for work reasons - have already been promised swanky new electric or refurbished diesel train sets arriving over the course of the 10-year deal, along with more seats, particularly at peak times.

Having just turned 55, I admit I am a little peeved that youngsters five years my junior are now being offered the same cost-effective travel arrangements as me. As a new member of what I was keen to describe as a "select" group, I was looking forward to using one of its few privileges, basking in the glory of more limited eligibility. C'est la vie, I suppose.

On the genuinely serious subject of livelihoods, Abellio has made another promise of more importance. It says it will guarantee the Living Wage to all staff - an hourly rate of £7.85 for workers outside of London, or whatever it may be after next month's General Election. That's £1.35 an hour more than the current Minimum Wage, which frequently requires recipients to find top-up employment to make ends meet. The cost to Abellio's bottom line will already be accounted for in its tender submission, one that appears to have ticked boxes that proved highly attractive to Scottish ministers.

The Scottish Government indicated in the bidding round that it wanted a service that best contributed to enabling economic growth while making a decisively positive impact at the level of the communities being served. Whatever the finer points and ultimate persuasiveness of the Abellio proposals, the company's move to Living Wage levels of pay as a minimum goes beyond the window dressing that is the norm when one organisation takes over a significant high profile service from another.

I admit that as I write, I have had no sight of any new ScotRail timetables or fare pricing but industry observers seem content that it will remain stable for the time being while offering more choice. Potential price increases over time will be, on a like-for-like basis, in line with any other large operator's requirements and therefore likely to remain best value - at least until the mid-term review point, say the same observers.

Due diligence done, will Abellio's example quickly lead to more employers in Scotland adopting the Living Wage? The result of the General Election will be the most decisive influencer; perceptions of the commercial environment and total operating costs are key alongside political promises on the actual amount of the Minimum Wage. Ignoring elections, there is surely a case to be made for more medium to large employers - say 500 headcount and above, just for the sake of a definition - to be encouraged by whatever appropriate means to adopt Living Wage.

Of course, even in this category there are employers working on very thin margins in tight markets, unable to proceed. Ironically, that could include companies making bulk supplies to supermarkets on reputedly cut-throat terms. On the other hand it is likely that multinational customer service outsourcers, for example, will be able to increase their client costs in order to accommodate such a rise without risking loss of business.

These enterprises employ thousands of people across central Scotland in contact centres. In this scenario, clients tend to be of similar or greater size than supplier and may be looking to capitalise on the joint improvement of image in order to increase their sales appeal, playing the corporate social responsibility card in the search for differentiation in their markets. For major projects, the outsourcer could be on a minimum two-year flexible contract where set-up costs are written down over time. Big outsourcers are not that easily replaced, and certainly not overnight - there is some safety in the fact that knee-jerk reaction to change is in itself costly for the end client, financially and in business process terms.

Partly as a result of below Living Wage pay for many in this type of work, attrition rates make ugly reading. Employment training is expensive, even if half the cost is paid for by the Scottish Government when employees live in postcode areas attracting generous employer assistance packages. Interestingly, throughout Abellio's stewardship of ScotRail, it has committed to no compulsory redundancies. Already this has overtones of a "value" product with a long shelf life, at Abellio price.