Tuesday 5 November 2024
 9.7°C   S Gentle Breeze
Ocean Kinetics - The Engineering Experts

News / Belford’s here to stay

Shetland Islands Council's executive finance manager Jonathan Belford

SHETLAND Islands Council’s temporary finance manager Jonathan Belford is moving to the islands to join the authority on a permanent basis.

Belford has managed the SIC’s finances on a day to day basis for the past 18 months as part of a partnership arrangement with Aberdeen City Council, where had worked for 17 years as corporate accounting manager.

Belford had been working under Steve Whyte who was acting as senior financial officer for both authorities.

The new executive manager said that he had enjoyed his time working in Shetland so much that he had decided to set up home here with his wife Frieda, while their daughter continues her education at Aberdeen’s Robert Gordon University.

“The past year or so working and living here in Shetland has been a fabulous experience and one that I wanted to continue, so I am delighted to be given the opportunity to take on this role,” said Belford, who will earn more than £70,000 per year.

“Shetland, the place and its people, the council staff and councillors made the decision to apply more straightforward than I had expected and I now look forward to working with the council and the corporate management team to help them to continue to deliver excellent local authority services in challenging times.”

SIC leader Gary Robinson said he was “extremely pleased” Belford had been recruited.

“He has already proven his worth in the work he has done since joining us back in 2014.

“This is a particularly challenging role, given the continuing pressures on public finance, and the need to maintain high quality services for our community.”

Belford joined the council after the departure of James Gray who managed a major overhaul of SIC finances following a series of scathing reports from local government watchdog Audit Scotland.

Gray was brought in by former chief executive Alistair Buchan in early 2012 from accountancy giant PricewaterhouseCoopers following a two day public hearing before the Accounts Commission.

Since then the council’s finances have received a clean bill of health, despite the ever increasing restraint on budgets.

Become a member of Shetland News

Shetland News is asking its many readers to consider paying for membership to get additional features and services: -

  • Remove non-local ads;
  • Bookmark posts to read later;
  • Exclusive curated weekly newsletter;
  • Hide membership messages;
  • Comments open for discussion.

If you appreciate what we do and feel strongly about impartial local journalism, then please become a member of Shetland News by either making a single payment, or setting up a monthly, quarterly or yearly subscription.

 
Categories
Advertisement 
Advertisement 
Advertisement 
Advertisement 

Newsletters

Subscribe to a selection of different newsletters from Shetland News, varying from breaking news delivered on the minute, to a weekly round-up of the opinion posts. All delivered straight to your inbox.

Daily Briefing Newsletter Weekly Highlights Newsletter Opinion Newsletter Life in Shetland Newsletter

JavaScript Required

We're sorry, but Shetland News isn't fully functional without JavaScript enabled.
Head over to the help page for instructions on how to enable JavaScript on your browser.

Your Privacy

We use cookies on our site to improve your experience.
By using our service, you agree to our Privacy Policy and Cookie Policy.

Browser is out-of-date

Shetland News isn't fully functional with this version of .
Head over to the help page for instructions on updating your browser for more security, improved speed and the best overall experience on this site.

Interested in Notifications?

Get notifications from Shetland News for important and breaking news.
You can unsubscribe at any time.

Have you considered becoming a member of Shetland News?

If you appreciate what we do and feel strongly about impartial local journalism, then please consider paying for membership and get the following features and services: -

  • Remove non-local ads;
  • Bookmark posts to read later;
  • Exclusive curated weekly newsletter;
  • Hide membership messages;
  • Comments open for discussion.