Death of former council chief executive

The man in charge of Western Isles Council when it lost all its money in the BCCI crash died yesterday.

George Macleod was chief executive of the local authority, which had put more than £23million in the Bank of Credit and Commerce International.

He was sacked, then reinstated so he could retire early, before running a very successful engineering consultancy on Lewis.

Mr Macleod, who was 74, died at his home on Lewis. He was praised by the current convener of the council for dealing with “difficult times”.

Normal Macdonald said: “Dr George was a highly respected engineer and director at the council and also served as chief executive during very challenging and difficult times for the council.

“He was also an elder and lay preacher in The Free Church over many years. Dr George served his community in many different roles over many years and he was well known throughout the islands and farther afield.

“Our thoughts and prayers are with his wife Mairi, his children Christine and Iain, his friends and all who knew him.”

The council flag in Stornoway flew at halfmast in tribute.

Two decades on from the BCCI crash, the council ended-up making a £2.5million “profit” out of the disaster because of favourable currency fluctuations over the period when it received payments from the liquidators. When the Western Isles Council saw nearly all its money disappear with the bank’s 1991 demise it marked one of the blackest days for any local authority in Britain.

“Chief executive during very challenging times”