By Gary Cooper

MYSTERY SURROUNDS the appointment of a new chief executive at Angus Council.

Nearly a week after the authority stated a replacement would be selected for the top role, no one has yet been unveiled as the person to lead the organisation.

Speculation is rife the council had offered the post to an electronics industry high-flyer who subsequently turned it down after a breakdown in negotiations.

It is understood a trio of other candidates for the job, who fell at the last hurdle, are now back in contention.

The authority, however, refused to divulge any details about the recruitment of a new boss for the highly-paid post.

A spokeswoman said, “No appointment has been made as yet.

“The council is reconvening on Tuesday to give the matter further consideration.”

She would not elaborate on the brief statement.

Nearly a fortnight ago, the council said long leet interviews, involving 11 candidates, would be taking place that week.

Those who made it past that stage—and four did—were then interviewed by the full council last Tuesday.

It is understood a Dundee-born man working in Helsinki, Finland, had impressed councillors with his presentation and interview skills and was a clear winner.

The man was in his late 30s, had married in Angus, and was in top management with his firm, having previously worked with some of the biggest companies in Europe.

He had been educated in Fife and had attended St Andrews University.

A council source said, “He seems to have travelled the world, made his money and wanted to settle down.

“He’d been described as being the best chief executive in Scotland, if not the UK—if he’d taken the job.

“On the day, he’d been streets ahead and was a very good candidate.

“He was taking quite a big step from private business into the public sector.”

The Courier has learned councillors became aware of a problem in finding the right person to take over from current incumbent Sandy Watson when they were kept back at Thursday’s meeting of the full council.

After the chamber at Town and County Hall in Forfar was cleared, the news was broken by staffing chief Hugh Robertson, flanked by law boss Catherine Coull.

It is believed issues arose over the successful candidate’s relocation which proved irreconcilable.

That meeting was the last of the full council before the retiral next month of Mr Watson.

Councillors will now meet tomorrow at the Town and County Hall at 6 pm to find a way forward.

It is thought they might look at options such as offering the job to one of the three other candidates who made it through to the last stages. Council staff say it is common knowledge finance chief David Sawers and housing boss Ron Ashton are two of those.