Shetland FM loan to be paid in full by end of the year
HIGHLANDS and Islands Enterprise (HIE) has released further details on the repayment of a loan of more than £600,000 to facility management company Shetland FM, which went into receivership when it lost its contract to run the Sella Ness work camp in 2019.
HIE confirmed during a media briefing last week that the loan to the company, owned by entrepreneur couple Frank and Debbie Strang, had been repaid in full.
However, following further questions, HIE clarified than one third of the loan had been repaid in the form of a security on Saxa Vord, owned by Shetland Space Centre.
The original loan was secured against the Saxa Vord resort and 17 self-catering houses at Nordabrake, in Unst.
A spokesperson for HIE told Shetland News: “A total of £457,000 has been repaid to HIE by the SFM [Shetland FM] liquidator.
“A condition of the sale was that SSC, as new owners of Saxa Vord, would grant HIE security over the property for the outstanding amount of £283,919.
“This remaining debt to HIE is treated as a loan to SSC, with repayment due by February 2022.”
Space centre owner Frank Strang confirmed the remaining amount would be paid off in full by the end of the year.
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