Nationalised Prestwick Airport chairman paid up to £504 a day while working on own takeover bid

dailyrecord.co.uk:

The former chairman of nationalised Prestwick Airport was paid up to £504 a day by the Scottish Government - while also working on his own bid to buy the facility.Millionaire businessman Forsyth Black is at the centre of conflict of interest claims after it emerged he is fronting a takeover attempt.First Minister John Swinney is now facing questions over why he was allowed to continue in the role of chairman for a number of weeks after the scandal came to light on January 10.Graham Simpson, Tory MSP for Central Scotland, said: “If this is true then it’s a very serious matter and the Scottish Government would need to explain why it was allowed to happen.“There is no way that anyone should be getting paid by the government while also working on a bid to takeover a government-owned business.”At a Holyrood committee meeting in December 2023 Black admitted having knowledge of alternative bids that were not passed on to ministers.He said senior management had not been given full information on bids because they could be “very distracting”.When Black was asked how many bids had been received in total, and then passed to the Scottish Government with a recommendation for sale, he added: “During my time as chair, no bids have been passed to the government.“We have received a small number of bids during my time as chair, but none has passed every test that is required.”During the same meeting, Black said a new bid was in the process of being assessed, stating: “We will put the bid through the filter and make a recommendation.”In was only in March this year - a few weeks after Black quit as chairman without explanation - it emerged that he had joined with Onex Corporation to bid for the airport himself.Black’s LinkedIn page states