A HEDGE fund manager has bought an island in the Inner Hebrides with the last two residents set to leave after looking after the land for more than 20 years.
Fior Rona Ltd, a company set up by hedge fund manager Danny Luhde-Thompson and his wife Cressida Pollock last month, has bought the Isle of Rona in a private exchange with the previous owner.
Found between Skye and Raasay, Rona is home to settlements along with deer and is covered in knee-deep scrub and bogs, which cover the 2400 acres of rocky landscape.
The island also boasts a vast variety of marine life, ranging from minke whales to sea eagles, and is surrounded by other islets, including Eilean Seamraig, Garbh Eilean, which is connected to Rona at low tide, Sgeirean Buidhe Bhorlum, and A' Sgeir Shuas
Luhde-Thompson, who is a prominent financial backer of the Labour Party, announced the purchase of the island from a Danish couple Dorte and Arne Jensen, who bought Rona in 1992 for a sum just short of £250,000.
The sale of the island coincided with the retirement of the last two residents of the island, as the couple Bill Cowie and Lorraine Shill have decided to leave after moving there in the early 2000s.
The pair have worked as custodians of Rona for more than two decades after they moved there in 2002, but said the time is right to move on this autumn.
Speaking to The Scotsman, 69-year-old Cowie said the mood still feels “business as usual” on the island as he said: “When we finally set sail out the harbour, that’s going to be when we feel it after being here all these years.
“It’s not just been a job living and working here. It’s been part of our life for the last 23 years.
“But things move on and it’s time for us to move on. We have reached a stage where age is against us and we can’t do more of what it takes to run a place like Rona.
“We will miss the views.”
Rona’s natural beauty has remained mostly unchanged despite the booming tourism trade of its neighbouring islands like Skye, as it only has two holiday cottages, a lodge, a bothy, and a separate home built for the couple to live in.
There is also a small museum which was constructed out of a ruin at a settlement site and some abandoned Ministry of Defence buildings to the north of the island.
There are no roads and no shops, but a venison larder and butchery have recently been built by Cowie, who has managed the red deer herd.
A spokesperson for Ltd Adam Crookshank told the Scotsman: “The island of Rona has been purchased by Fior Rona Ltd who will look to carry on the excellent work of the previous owners and custodians and will try to ensure that the natural heritage, including the island itself and the marine environment that surrounds it, continues to thrive under their custodianship.
“This will include carrying out baseline surveys to understand the current state of biodiversity and allow for the development of a considered plan to further protect and restore the natural habitats, and to measure progress over time.”
