Toll Clock Investments take helm at Lerwick shopping centre

New company Toll Clock Investments (TCI) was today confirmed as the new owners of the Toll Clock Shopping Centre.

The centre has been up for sale since August 2018 and had an initial asking price of £1.8 million.

TCI was registered in June this year by Millgaet Media director Malcolm Younger. He has a shop within the centre and is listed as the managing director of the new company alongside two other directors.

One of the other two directors of Toll Clock Investments is Dawn Sim, the daughter of former Bolts owner George Sutherland and a current director of Bolts Shetland Limited.

The third director is Andrew Gibson, listed as a creative director at Millgaet Media.

A “registration of a charge”, similar to a mortgage and described as “the security a company gives for a loan” by the government, was listed on Toll Clock Investments Companies House page on Monday 4th November. The charge is entitled to the Royal Bank of Scotland.

Yesterday, the new entity confirmed the purchase of the Lerwick shopping centre which opened in 1988 and is home to more than 50 businesses.

Mrs Sim announced last year that she, her father and her brother, Malcolm Sutherland, had taken the decision to sell the business and described it as a “unique opportunity”.

At the time, she said: “We have mixed feelings placing the shopping centre on the market for sale as it has been part of our lives for such a long and successful time.

“The shopping centre continues to go from strength to strength and we feel that the time has now come to pass on this unique opportunity.”

They stated the reason for their decision to sell was to allow George to retire, while Malcolm Sutherland and Mrs Sim would focus on the three shops currently owned by Bolts Shetland Limited – Bolts Mini Market, Bolts Home Comforts and Toll Clock Toys.

Bolts Shetland Ltd has retained ownership of those businesses. Mrs Sim said: “I am delighted the centre will continue to provide a diverse range of services under the new company.”

A brochure produced by Aberdeen estate agency FG Burnett last year stated that the shopping centre was likely to earn its investors an annual income of £289,000.