Latest news with #Perthshire
Daily Mail
7 hours ago
- Business
- Daily Mail
Former minister with links to Qatar's royal family buys 'Eton of the North' private school
A leading private school once nicknamed the 'Eton of the North' has been bought by a company co-owned by the former deputy prime minister of Qatar. Glenalmond College in Perthshire, where fees are up to £54,375 a year for senior boarders, is now in the hands of 35 Education, a company that styles itself as 'a philanthropic education enterprise'. Fees have been frozen while the school has launched up to 40 awards for subjects such as academic studies, art and design and technology, offering a discount on fees of up to 100 per cent. The new owner is a joint venture between Professor Basak Akdemir, a Turkish academic and businesswoman, and Khalid bin Mohammed al-Attiyah, who served as deputy prime minister and foreign affairs minister and has links to Qatar's royal family. Former pupils of the college, a Presbyterian boarding school founded in 1847 by William Gladstone, include the late actor Robbie Coltrane, golfer Carly Booth, and former Scotland rugby player Rob Wainwright. The move comes as the private sector faces financial turmoil caused by Labour's decision to impose VAT on fees, forcing some closures and leading to fears that state schools will have to accommodate an influx of pupils from fee-paying institutions. Last night Scottish Tory education spokesman Miles Briggs said the news showed the pressures caused by Labour's 'misguided' economic policies that are 'failing to bring in the predicted revenue, costing jobs, letting down pupils and placing extra strain on state schools'. Professor Akdemir, who will 'closely involved' with the school's curriclum, said a generous investment would bring Glenalmond 'up to standard' over the next two to three years - and there are plans to open a chain of Glenalmond Colleges across the world. The Sunday Times reported the takeover has prompted concern from some people close to the school who take issue with Qatar's human rights record towards women and the LGBT community. Falling roll numbers and the financial difficulties common in the private school sector had made the sudden takeover a 'necessary step', insiders claimed. But Lucy Elphinstone, who has been appointed executive principal of the Glenalmond Schools Group, told the Sunday Times: 'Absolutely no parents or staff or anybody has raised any issues whatsoever. 'And there is no association with his excellency, except that he has given incredibly generously and is president of Glenalmond. 'We have on our governing body the primus of the Episcopalian Church and a second bishop, and they have looked into this very carefully and feel there's going to be no influence.' Mr Al-Attiyah has been appointed president of the schools group but will not be involved day-to-day. Ms Elphinstone said that the move might prove to be a model for other fee-paying British schools and she expected more money from the Middle East to be invested in the private system. She said other schools 'would give anything to be in the position we are in', adding: 'I've had other heads phone me to ask if the professor has a brother or sister who might like to invest in my school, and can you introduce me.' A statement from the school said a new board had been appointed as part of a 'change in personnel'. The school's constitution dictates that a descendant of Mr Gladstone and the primus of the Scottish Presbyterian Church must sit on the board. Professor Akdemir said she had been looking for a school to invest in 'for some time' and chose Glenalmond for its history and 'glorious campus'. Ms Elphinstone said: 'The raw material, the canvas of the college, is so wonderful, so glorious, and has such potential. 'But, as with all schools, over the past decade it's been harder to attract students. Pressure has come upon our ability to be able to develop and expand in the way that all schools are wanting to in terms of their facilities and their provision.' Ms Elphinstone, who was headmistress of a school in London where Professor Akdemir sent her daughter, described the takeover's provenance as an 'extraordinary quirk of fate'. She said: 'I didn't realise that her parents felt they owe this great debt of gratitude to my school, and perhaps to me.' Professor Akdemir had spent a year looking for the right school to buy and saw Ms Elphinstone's name on the list of governors of Glenalmond. Ms Elphinstone said: 'It is utterly miraculous. I am a Christian and I do believe this was an act of God ... The staff live on campus and with the pupil numbers going down, they were thinking, 'Is it going to be OK?''
Sky News
7 days ago
- Sky News
Stephen Speedie: Two charged amid murder investigation after man found dead on road
Two suspects have been charged amid a murder investigation following the death of a man in Perthshire. Officers received a report of concern for a man on the road between Dunning and Kinross at about 7am on Friday. Stephen Speedie, a 29-year-old from Perth, was pronounced dead at the scene. In an update on Monday, Police Scotland said Mr Speedie's death is now being treated as murder following a post-mortem examination. Detectives believe it to be an "isolated incident" with "no wider risk to the public". Two men, aged 36 and 42, have been arrested and charged in connection with the case. The pair are due to appear before Perth Sheriff Court. A 40-year-old woman was also arrested but has been released pending further investigation. Detective Chief Inspector Carron McKellar said: "Our thoughts are with Stephen's family and friends at what is an extremely difficult time. "Officers are offering support and keeping them updated with the progress of our investigation. "I understand this incident will be concerning for the local community however I'd like to reassure them we believe this was an isolated incident and there is no wider risk to the public.
BBC News
7 days ago
- BBC News
Man's death on Perthshire road treated as murder
Police have said the death of a 29-year-old man whose body was discovered on a Perthshire road is being treated as Speedie, from Perth, was found on the Dunning to Kinross road at about 07:00 on Friday. He was pronounced dead at the men, aged 36 and 42, are expected to appear at Perth Sheriff Court later in connection with Mr Speedie's death.A 40-year-old woman was also arrested and has been released pending further investigation. Police Scotland said extensive inquiries into Mr Speedie's were Ch Insp Carron McKellar said: "Our thoughts are with Stephen's family and friends at what is an extremely difficult time."Officers are offering support and keeping them updated with the progress of our investigation."I understand this incident will be concerning for the local community, however I'd like to reassure them we believe this was an isolated incident and there is no wider risk to the public."
Times
7 days ago
- Business
- Times
The new Scottish hotel where you can buy everything in your room
When Annabelle Holland and her investment banker husband Anthony Everard decided during lockdown to start a business selling British-made furniture of their own design, the one thing they knew, she says, is that they didn't want a shop. Having always won her interiors projects by word of mouth — 'by people seeing houses I'd done and then asking me to do theirs' — the best way, they decided, to persuade clients to invest in her modern country-house look, and the products they sold through their online interiors store Anbôise, was to let them experience it. Or, even better, to get them to stay in rooms she'd decorated, to eat off plates she'd picked and to use napkins whose embroidery she'd designed. Which is why last month the British couple opened a hotel in which every inch has been designed by her and every room furnished with pieces from their Anbôise collection. Situated at the foot of the long Glen Lyon in Perthshire (near the 3,000-year-old Fortingall Yew, which many believe to be one of the oldest trees in Europe), the Fortingall Hotel was put up for sale in 2022. When, in 2024, their friend Charlie Ramsay, who is the majority shareholder of the South Chesthill estate on which the hotel sits, told the couple about the sale, 'a lightbulb went off', Holland says. 'We'd always thought the best way to sell products was not through shops but a hotel — so you could sleep in it and feel it and then think, 'I want to buy it',' she says. 'While we had not necessarily considered Scotland, it felt like an opportunity we couldn't let go of.' Having designed grand country houses for friends in the south of England, including a Georgian-style home with a kitchen designed to look like a farmhouse barn, transforming the run-down grade B listed hotel and adjoining pub was 'pretty straightforward', the 44-year-old English designer says. That was, primarily, because 'almost everything needed modernising if we were to run it as an upmarket hotel. So we pretty much stripped it.' Between November 2024 and April 2025, they got a team of local builders in to remove the electrics, the plumbing ('including old macerator loos which you could hear three rooms away'), the dark red-painted interiors and the tartan carpets. Then, with the help of her husband — who is not just the business brains, she says, but 'has an incredible eye for detail' — they furnished the ten-bedroom double-storey, from top to bottom, with their own Anbôise products, from one-off antiques to rugs and tables designed by them. To say the Fortingall Hotel, which was built in 1891 as an Arts and Crafts property, has been transformed is an understatement. Gone are the dark traditional rooms with their heavy Victorian pieces. In their place are interiors that wouldn't look out of place in a contemporary country house. Walls are painted in natural tones and sunny yellows. Headboards, in warm apricots and moss greens, are sensuous and covered in smartly piped velvets (£1,200). There are angled brass reading lights (£198) and elegant modern ceramic lamps (£210), sweet colourful glass vases (£28) and benches in pretty linen upholstery (£2,530). Plus, Holland has placed antiques which she's bought and refurbished, or solid-wood pieces they've designed for their own furniture range. All of which — from the beds, the baths and the rugs to the lampshades — can be bought. Although all sales, she insist, will be totally discreet; prices will be listed on the room's TV, and QR codes available at reception. 'Then, if you want something, you can just go online, pay for it, and we can deliver to your home the next day,' she says. 'Put it this way — you're not going to have a sales catalogue thrust at you while you eat your lunch!' Those who have no interest in interiors will be equally well catered to, she insists. Her husband has employed a professional team — all Scottish — to deliver a high-end menu using ingredients from the estate and region. They have a new team of eight to ensure the experience is as polished as the interiors. In fact, so confident are they of their first Anbôise hotel that in November they moved to Sotogrande in Spain, and are working remotely. From there, she says, they have big expansion plans for the brand: to create their own fabrics and wallpapers and to grow the range of covetable products — which already include hand-painted pottery from Ireland, a carved amber jug and a pale-pink stone cake stand, rainbow-shaped white marble bookends and curvaceous rattan lamp bases. Not everything, she says regretfully, is made in the UK (although the furniture is) 'or we would source it all there — we learnt that lesson during Covid when everything was held up at Customs'. For those wanting to redecorate their home, but who are unsure how to do it, Fortingall might be a rather lovely place in which to find inspiration. Checking into a little hotel in one of the most beautiful glens in Scotland, and walking the hills, fly-fishing along the estate's six-mile stretch of river and warming up with a wee dram certainly beats a weekend at B&Q. Doubles from £270 to £485 a night,
Telegraph
15-06-2025
- Telegraph
Man dies and girl, 8, injured as fire rips through four-storey residential building
A man has died and an eight-year-old girl has been taken to hospital after a fire tore through a four-storey residential building in Perth. A 27-year-old man has also been taken to hospital after the blaze took hold in flats on the corner of Scott Street and South Street. Steps have been taken to impose temporary airspace restrictions, including on drones, across Perth city centre until 1pm on Wednesday 'for security and safety', according to Police Scotland. Officers patrolling the area initially reported the fire on Saturday at about 1.50am. Two firefighters were injured, one due to falling masonry, as a dozen fire crews battled the blaze. Forty people were forced to leave their homes as nearby buildings were evacuated following the fire. John Swinney, the First Minister who is also the MSP for Perthshire North, said on social media: 'Terribly sorry to hear of the death of a man in the fire in Scott Street, Perth. I express my sympathy to his family. 'Concerned also for the condition of those who are receiving hospital treatment. This is a major incident and I am thankful to the emergency services.' A joint investigation is being held by the police and fire services and road closures remain in place at the scene. Chief Supt Nicola Russell, divisional commander for Tayside, said: 'Our thoughts are with all those affected by this incident. Investigations are at a very early stage to establish the full circumstances of what has happened. 'We are conducting a joint investigation with Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS). As part of our investigations a temporary airspace restriction is place in the Scott Street and South Street areas in Perth until 1pm on Wednesday June 18 for security and your safety. 'Restrictions include drones. You must check if it is legal to fly in your area. Drone users are responsible. It is a criminal offence to fly in restricted airspace. 'A police cordon remains in place and members of the public are asked to avoid the area.' Andy Girrity, deputy assistant chief officer at the SFRS, added: 'On arrival, firefighters found the roof of a four-storey residential building well alight. 'Initially, three appliances were mobilised, but due to the severity of the blaze and structural collapses, a total of 12 appliances were involved at the height of the incident. 'Five casualties, including one firefighter injured by falling masonry, were passed into the care of the Scottish Ambulance Service. 'The incident has now been scaled back, and two appliances and one height vehicle remain on scene to dampen down hotspots.'
