Tycoon told to improve danger site

Published on 27/06/2012 00:32

A DANGEROUS building notice has been served on the derelict textile factory owned by one of the richest men in Scotland.

Ian Suttie, the oil tycoon who is poised to become Scotland’s third billionaire after his company First Oil & Gas discovered the massive Kraken field in the waters east of Shetland, has been ordered to carry out urgent safety improvements at the site of the Broadford Works in Aberdeen – the disused former Richards textile mill – following a spate of fires started by vandals at the Hutcheon Street site.

Firefighters tackled four separate blazes at the sprawling site on one day alone earlier this month.

The site of the former mill complex has lain derelict since the former Richards textile plant closed its doors eight years ago.

But last December it was revealed that the Prince’s Regeneration Trust, the heritage organisation established by the Prince of Wales, was spearheading an ambitious drive to regenerate the derelict industrial complex – the largest collection of category A-listed buildings at risk in Scotland.