Dear Friends,

There has been a development. The bust of Sir John now has a potential UK buyer!

As you know, the first deferral period of the sale ended on 8 April, followed by a 15 working-day period for the Highland Council to consider any offer coming forward from a UK buyer.

That consideration period ended yesterday, and I asked the Council to make a statement on their resulting decision.

A Highland Council spokesperson said:  “Under the terms of the Waverley Criteria, the Council has been notified of a ‘serious offer’ from a UK buyer by the Arts Council England.  The Council has accepted this offer and the prospective buyer will have five months to raise the funds under this process.  Under the confidentiality terms of the Option Agreement, as set out by the Arts Council England, the Council is not in a position to confirm the identity of the prospective buyer.”

This is not a rescinding of the sale as we would have hoped ... merely an agreement to consider a UK offer. This new potential buyer now has until 30 September to raise the purchase price of £3,135,900 (plus VAT of £620,000 which can be reclaimed by an eligible institution) for the bust.

The buyer could be from anywhere within the UK, so this announcement doesn't tell us whether the bust will be able to stay in Scotland. However, that information should be forthcoming quite soon if the buyer is to mount a public fundraising campaign.

We are still in great suspense. Nevertheless, this is a step away from the brink for Sir John, a chance that he will not be shipped off overseas never to be seen again. And you are all to be thanked for your part. 

Yet we must not let slip our vigilance and support. The ideal development would have been the outright cancellation of the sale to guarantee that the bust remain in Scotland.

We will continue to follow the news closely to see if the prospective UK buyer makes an announcement. And as we do so, the petition - and our support of the bust of Sir John for Scotland - lives on.