Community / New Linga owner ‘delighted’ to buy isle
Entrepreneur John Scott plans to restore the island’s two ruined buildings and develop a third cottage
THE FOUNDER of a leading industrial supplies company has become the new owner of the isle of Linga.
Monaco based entrepreneur John Scott, who owns Scott Group, said he was “delighted” to buy the island.
Linga – which has been uninhabited since 1934 – sits off the west mainland of Shetland and is around 64 acres in size.
It had been on the market for around six years, and its listing – which had a £250,000 asking price – attracted attention in the national media.
In a statement to Shetland News, a spokesperson for the company said that “in keeping with the previous owner’s plans, [Scott] intends to develop the island to recreate the crofting land and restore two existing dwellings, and subject to appropriate planning permissions, adding a third new cottage at the south end of the island”.
“The project will use renewable energy and eco-friendly solutions,” they added.
The former owner of the island previously secured planning consent for a concrete pier, new agricultural buildings, a loch and new cottage.
The previous planning permission also included the rebuilding of two derelict cottages, a windmill and solar panels.
The island can be accessed by boat, with the village of Walls some 500 metres away.
Scott became managing director of Scott Timber at the age of 18, and he transformed his family’s Scottish sawmilling business into one of the world’s leading pallet manufacturers and a major supplier to Europe’s industrial markets.
He said to have led over 40 strategic business acquisitions in the last three decades.
Scott has business interests in the UK and Latvia, operating from over 30 locations and employing over 1,000 people.
There is already an existing Shetland connection – one of Scott Group’s sub-companies Scott Direct, which provides industrial supplies like safety equipment, work wear and PPE, has a branch in Lerwick.
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