Maitland Mackie to launch windpower firm

The ice-cream business leader is proposing plans for a natural-energy company that would benefit rural communities

One of Scotland’s best-known business leaders is expected to unveil a proposal tomorrow for a massive windpower company that would be owned by farmers and landowners across the UK.
Maitland Mackie, the chairman of the Aberdeenshire ice-cream maker Mackie’s, is understood to be keen to ensure rural communities benefit more widely from wind generation.
Mackie has refused to comment ahead of the announcement, although he floated the general idea at a farming conference earlier this year.
The full extent of the scale is being kept under wraps, but it is understood that it would need millions of pounds of investment in its early stages. Mackie has brought a well-known business figure on board to advise on the financial make-up of the proposed company.
Mackie’s already produces its own electricity from three wind turbines located on its farm.
Meanwhile, Vattenfall, the Swedish power company, is thought to be looking at UK power companies, including Scottish and Southern Energy, after Lars Josefsson, the chief executive, said the UK was a “target market” with lots of opportunities.