Shetland is the place to be

SHETLAND has again come top in a survey rating the quality of life in rural areas in Scotland.

With Orkney coming in at third, the latest Bank of Scotland survey published on Friday, portrays living in the northern isles as cool in more ways than just the climate.

Shetlanders are on average fitter than the rest of the country, have a higher life expectancy and earn more than their Scottish counterparts, according to the bank.

Shetland also has, at almost 84 per cent, the highest employment rate anywhere in Scotland, and house prices at 4.2 times the average gross annual local earnings are below those on the Scottish mainland.

The level of school qualifications are also above the national average.

The latest findings did not come as a surprise to Andy Steven, the manager of local marketing organisation Promote Shetland.

He said: “I’m not surprised that Shetland has come top of this survey. It’s good to see external studies endorse what the folk that live here take for granted.

“Shetland is a very special place – we’re proud of its uniqueness, quality of the produce and beauty of the landscape. We hope the news will encourage more people to consider Shetland as a place to visit, live, work and invest.”

Bank of Scotland economist Nitesh Patel said: “In recent years, Shetland has performed consistently well against a wide range of indicators to demonstrate that its residents have amongst the best quality of life in Scotland.

“The islands scores highly relative to the average for Scotland on several indicators, such as health, life expectancy, employment, average earnings, school results and low crime rates.

“Even average house prices are relatively low in relation to earnings, highlighting that a high standard of living does not always come at a high price.”

The survey coincides with an announcement from Northern Constabulary on Thursday saying the force had achieved its highest ever detection rate with 68.7 per cent in its north division, which includes Shetland and Orkney.