News / SLAP rotation
LOCAL surveyor Michael Thomson has been appointed as the new chairman of Shetland Leasing and Property Development Limited (SLAP), the property company wholly owned by Shetland Charitable Trust.
Meanwhile, two new directors, retired farmer Brian Anderson and facilities manager Colin Clark, were appointed earlier this year.
Former chairwoman Susan Groat’s directorship was terminated at the end of March after her six-year term came to an end.
Thomson said the company’s statutes stipulate that directors are initially appointed for a period of three years, and that no director can serve for longer than six years.
The size of the board has temporarily been increased to four directors in preparation for former councillor Bill Manson’s retirement from the company in autumn of this year.
Groat was in charge of the company when the Shetland Islands Council’s headquarters at 8 North Ness were controversially evacuated over safety fears in September 2016.
Following detailed surveys and load tests these fears proved to be unfounded and some council staff have meanwhile moved back into the building.
Thomson said that SLAP was a very profitable company which earned around £2 million for the charitable trust every year.
Apart form the SIC headquarters SLAP also owns part of the Greenhead Base, Scatsta Airport, Shetland College and the NAFC Marine Centre.
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