Scottish businessman Iain Mercer has blamed the “banking sector” for the forced administration of his property and development company.
He took over the Almondale Group, which has a portfolio of retail, office, industrial and research and development premises across Scotland, in 2006 after the death of his father, former Heart of Midlothian owner Wallace Mercer. Since then the Edinburgh-based business has been meeting its financial obligations and was trading successfully “right up to the moment administration became a reality,” claimed Iain Mercer.
Working with his mother Anne as a co-director, he insisted the group would have “continued to prosper” if it had received “the support and necessary refinance we tirelessly sought to acquire from the banking sector”.
The 36-year-old businessman said the UK and Scottish governments should do more to encourage the banks to “get their house in order” by lending more to small and medium-sized businesses.
In a short statement Mercer confirmed his resignation as managing director of Almondale Group, which includes Almondale Investments and Cosmopolitan Investments. He also stressed that for each of the past five years the group had generated a turnover in excess of £1m and he was proud of what he had achieved.
Although Mercer has refused to discuss the details of the collapse it is widely understood Almondale’s debt was called in by Cerberus Capital Management. It had acquired the debt from Lloyds Banking Group. The administrator, FTI Consulting, was appointed last week and has so far declined to comment.
“Almondale and Cosmopolitan will bow out as two respected and valued players in Scotland’s property market,” added Iain Mercer. “It has been an exciting, eventful and often challenging journey, so it is with great enthusiasm that I look forward to putting my energy into new business opportunities.” He said he plans to provide strategic property advice to clients through his new venture Elm.
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