Scotland’s richest man moves into antiques…very, very slowly

He made his billions in fast fashion but Scotland’s richest man’s foray into the antiques business is going a little more slowly.

Accounts lodged by Anders Povlsen’s Wildland Ltd has revealed £3 million of antiques are collected at his castle and lodges in the Highlands while suggesting “the sale of antiques” is a principal activity.

However, the accounts lodged with Companies House, suggests the value of the company’s antiques stands at £3.2 million but there was not much trading with £1,306 worth of collectibles added and £4,780 being sold.

The apparent profit of £3,474 is hardly a drop in a drop in the ocean of Povlsen’s estimated £9.8 billion wealth.

Accounts for Wildland – which runs his dozen estates – show that it ran-up increased losses of £5.28m. In fact it has never made a profit – or as a result paid any corporation tax – though it does pay VAT and National Insurance.

Tim Kirkwood, CEO of Wildland said some of the company’s properties, particularly Aldourie Castle on the banks of Loch Ness and Glenfeshie Lodge in the Cairngorms, had been purchased with a lot of antiques already in place.

“We have also since topped up with some other art – not necessarily antiques – for the benefit and enjoyment of guests,” he said.

Turnover for the group increased by just over £600,000 to nearly £3.7m. But administrative expenses soared to £5.6m. The group’s total net assets were more than £180m, compared to just over £149m in 2020.

More than £163m of that total was freehold land and buildings.

But Kirkwood said the rise was not down to increasing land values of Wildland’s 221,000 acres, but investment in its estates, particularly at Aldourie and Hope Lodge in Sutherland.

Povlsen also holds out some hope his estates will make a profit one day. In signing off the accounts, Mr Povlsen says the group remains “committed and anticipates a return to a positive gross margin, and therefore profitability, over time”.

He previously repaid nearly £300,000 he received from the UK Government’s furlough scheme after laying off nearly 50 workers at his Scottish estates.

In 2017, Povlsen bought the Jenners building on Princes Street in Edinburgh, reportedly for £53 million and plans to renovate the building, including a hotel and rooftop restaurant.

He is also one of the backers of Prince William’s Earthshot Prize.

According to Forbes, Povlsen is currently worth £9.8bn – though estimates of his wealth vary with the Sunday Times Rich List for 2022 estimating his wealth at around £6.5bn.